Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 14,825 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its holdings in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 56.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,638 shares of the bank's stock after selling 14,825 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in WaFd were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 11,249 shares of the bank's stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 2,195 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of WaFd in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,539,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in WaFd by 152.9% during 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 during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in WaFd during the 4th quarter worth approximately $403,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,420,004 shares of the bank's stock valued at $303,701,000 after purchasing an additional 166,931 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson cut WaFd from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com raised WaFd from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on WaFd from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.50.

WaFd Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:WAFD traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.06. 47,855 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 521,706. WaFd, Inc has a one year low of $23.75 and a one year high of $38.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $28.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.71. The company has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 0.79.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last issued 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. WaFd had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The firm had revenue of $179.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.17 million. Equities analysts predict that WaFd, Inc will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from WaFd's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. WaFd's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.