Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 304,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,251 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.89% of Heritage Financial worth $7,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Heritage Financial by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,283 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,684,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $215,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Heritage Financial by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,206,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,066,000 after acquiring an additional 465,708 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Heritage Financial by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,968 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 3,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Heritage Financial by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 118,851 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,912,000 after acquiring an additional 5,723 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HFWA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heritage Financial news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total value of $80,677.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $992,832.33. This trade represents a 7.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total transaction of $166,400.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,677,635.96. This represents a 9.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,311 shares of company stock valued at $267,473. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:HFWA traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $23.10. 220,241 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 213,269. Heritage Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $16.55 and a 12-month high of $27.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $787.85 million, a PE ratio of 18.63 and a beta of 0.53.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The company had revenue of $57.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $61.74 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.86%.

About Heritage Financial

Heritage Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Heritage Bank that provides various financial services to small and medium sized businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest demand deposits, interest bearing demand deposits, money market accounts, savings accounts, personal checking accounts, and certificates of deposit.