Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 139,465 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,851,922 shares of the bank's stock after selling 139,465 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.24% of WaFd worth $201,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WAFD. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in WaFd by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,666,170 shares of the bank's stock worth $291,145,000 after acquiring an additional 1,544,977 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the 4th quarter worth about $21,711,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,934,502 shares of the bank's stock worth $104,343,000 after purchasing an additional 566,556 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WaFd by 490.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 510,742 shares of the bank's stock worth $16,762,000 after purchasing an additional 424,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,921,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WaFd Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ WAFD traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,079,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 450,744. WaFd, Inc has a 52 week low of $23.36 and a 52 week high of $34.07. The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $28.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.10.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. WaFd had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 11.19%. The business had revenue of $166.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $180.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc will post 2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is a boost from WaFd's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. WaFd's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WAFD. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of WaFd from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of WaFd from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.50.

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.