WaFd, Inc. $WAFD Shares Purchased by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 37.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 191,044 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,500 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 0.25% of WaFd worth $5,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WAFD. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in WaFd by 42.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 57.6% during the 2nd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of WaFd in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 712.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in WaFd by 95.6% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,783 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total transaction of $776,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 116,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,972.72. The trade was a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WaFd Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $36.84 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $36.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.09. WaFd, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.31 and a 1 year high of $39.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $205.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.56 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.98% and a net margin of 18.47%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAFD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of WaFd from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research cut WaFd from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

WaFd Profile

Washington Federal, Inc, doing business as WaFd Bank, is a publicly traded bank holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Through its subsidiary, WaFd Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, small-to-medium enterprises, and commercial clients. Established in 1917 as Ballard Savings & Loan in Seattle, the institution expanded over decades to serve customers across the Western United States under the Washington Federal name and has operated as a public company since the early 1980s.

WaFd Bank’s core offerings encompass deposit accounts such as checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, alongside consumer and commercial lending products.