Swiss National Bank Grows Stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,426 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.20% of WaFd worth $5,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WAFD. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in WaFd by 17,472.3% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 8,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 8,212 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,902,461 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $229,408,000 after acquiring an additional 125,020 shares during the period. American International Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 36,637 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 71,793 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,084,000 after acquiring an additional 9,004 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 40,018 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 3,335 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WAFD. Piper Sandler cut their price target on WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total value of $404,359.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,345,532.08. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.25% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WAFD opened at $37.11 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.81. WaFd, Inc has a one year low of $25.78 and a one year high of $38.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 0.83.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. WaFd had a return on equity of 9.44% and a net margin of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $389.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that WaFd, Inc will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.94%.

WaFd Profile

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts.