BNP Paribas Financial Markets Trims Holdings in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its position in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 36.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,367 shares of the bank's stock after selling 10,630 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in WaFd were worth $592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WaFd in the 4th quarter worth $1,766,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 47,174 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,521,000 after buying an additional 6,682 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 33.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,958 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,643,000 after buying an additional 40,499 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in WaFd by 152.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 469,704 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,143,000 after buying an additional 283,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in WaFd by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 447,621 shares of the bank's stock worth $14,431,000 after buying an additional 19,117 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on WAFD. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of WaFd from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WaFd from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of WaFd from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, WaFd presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.50.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WaFd stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $28.64. 497,584 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 537,340. WaFd, Inc has a one year low of $23.75 and a one year high of $38.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.58.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. WaFd had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The company had revenue of $179.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.17 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that WaFd, Inc will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. WaFd's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.75%.

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.