WaFd, Inc. $WAFD Shares Sold by UBS Group AG

UBS Group AG decreased its position in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 38.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,547 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 125,929 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in WaFd were worth $6,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in WaFd by 42.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in WaFd by 57.6% during the 2nd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in WaFd by 604.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in WaFd during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in WaFd by 712.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on WAFD. Wall Street Zen raised WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Zacks Research raised WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price target on WaFd in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings raised WaFd from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.80.

WaFd Trading Down 0.6%

WAFD opened at $34.87 on Wednesday. WaFd, Inc. has a one year low of $26.31 and a one year high of $38.59. The company has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.50.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.09. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 18.25%.The business had revenue of $197.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.29%.

Insider Activity at WaFd

In other news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total value of $776,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 116,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,972.72. This represents a 15.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

About WaFd

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.