WaFd, Inc. $WAFD Shares Sold by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lowered its stake in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 6.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,024,145 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 69,397 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in WaFd were worth $31,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WAFD. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of WaFd in the 2nd quarter worth $7,666,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in WaFd by 360.0% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 131,457 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,849,000 after acquiring an additional 102,879 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WaFd by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,036,490 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,628,000 after purchasing an additional 87,956 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of WaFd in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,052,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new stake in shares of WaFd during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,117,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAFD has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of WaFd from $33.50 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on WaFd from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.90.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of WAFD stock opened at $31.16 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.52. The company has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 0.86. WaFd, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.75 and a twelve month high of $34.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.01). WaFd had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 17.45%.The firm had revenue of $188.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.36 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. WaFd’s payout ratio is 37.37%.

Insider Activity

In other WaFd news, EVP Cathy E. Cooper sold 5,300 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total transaction of $178,981.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 94,755 shares in the company, valued at $3,199,876.35. The trade was a 5.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brent J. Beardall bought 3,000 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.85 per share, with a total value of $50,550.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,100. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 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.