Millennium Management LLC Has $848,000 Position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Millennium Management LLC lowered its position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 24.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,619 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,330 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Heritage Financial worth $848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 794.1% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,901 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 20,710 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 1,917 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,841 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,221,000 after buying an additional 2,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,968 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 3,814 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ HFWA traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 116,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 215,519. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $812.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20 and a beta of 0.55. Heritage Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.55 and a fifty-two week high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The firm had revenue of $57.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.74 million. Equities research analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. Heritage Financial's payout ratio is presently 64.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HFWA shares. 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th.

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.