Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 62.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,157 shares of the bank's stock after selling 19,888 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in WaFd were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vest Financial LLC acquired a new stake in WaFd during the 1st quarter worth about $708,000. Talbot Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 77,586 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,288 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 236,909 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,771,000 after purchasing an additional 6,068 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in WaFd by 2,337.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 40,555 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,159,000 after buying an additional 38,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in WaFd during the fourth quarter worth $2,163,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAFD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of WaFd from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded WaFd from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.50.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WAFD traded up $0.26 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.89. The stock had a trading volume of 174,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,025. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $28.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.80. WaFd, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.75 and a 1-year high of $38.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 0.85.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $179.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $184.17 million. WaFd had a net margin of 15.13% and a return on equity of 8.74%. On average, equities analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. WaFd's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.75%.

About WaFd

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.