Insider Selling: WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) EVP Sells 22,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• WaFd EVP Kim Robison sold 22,000 shares at an average price of $35.28 for roughly $776,160, reducing her stake by 15.93% to 116,099 shares.
• WaFd beat Q1 estimates with $0.83 EPS versus $0.74 expected and $197.66M in revenue; the stock trades at a $2.69B market cap with a P/E of 11.59 and a 3.0% dividend yield.
• Analysts generally rate the stock a Hold with a consensus price target of $34.80 (several firms raised targets to $36–$38), and institutional investors own about 83.7% of shares.

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) EVP Kim Robison sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total value of $776,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 116,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,972.72. The trade was a 15.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

WaFd Trading Up 0.7%

WAFD stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $35.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 234,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 669,006. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.85. WaFd, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.31 and a 1 year high of $36.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 0.83.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $197.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.51 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 18.25%.During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. WaFd's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAFD has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded WaFd from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price target on WaFd in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded WaFd from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WaFd

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in WaFd by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,056 shares of the bank's stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in WaFd by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 15,162 shares of the bank's stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in WaFd by 3.8% in the first quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,720 shares of the bank's stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in WaFd by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,092 shares of the bank's stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in WaFd by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 9,539 shares of the bank's stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

About WaFd

Washington Federal, Inc, doing business as WaFd Bank, is a publicly traded bank holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Through its subsidiary, WaFd Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, small-to-medium enterprises, and commercial clients. Established in 1917 as Ballard Savings & Loan in Seattle, the institution expanded over decades to serve customers across the Western United States under the Washington Federal name and has operated as a public company since the early 1980s.

WaFd Bank's core offerings encompass deposit accounts such as checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, alongside consumer and commercial lending products.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.