William Blair Investment Management LLC Acquires 22,716 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 929,760 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,716 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 1.14% of WaFd worth $29,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of WaFd by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of WaFd by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 16,790 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of WaFd by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 159,726 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the 4th quarter valued at about $499,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WaFd Price Performance

WAFD opened at $28.58 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. WaFd, Inc has a 1 year low of $25.79 and a 1 year high of $38.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.83.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. This is a boost from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAFD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. DA Davidson lowered WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.75.

WaFd Company 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.