Bank of New York Mellon Corp Acquires 28,849 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 736,564 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,849 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in WaFd were worth $23,747,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in WaFd by 112.7% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of WaFd by 60.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,904 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WaFd by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of WaFd by 35.1% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,797 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WaFd during the third quarter valued at about $237,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WAFD. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, DA Davidson cut WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.75.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WAFD opened at $28.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. WaFd, Inc has a 1 year low of $25.78 and a 1 year high of $38.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.59.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. This is a positive change from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. WaFd’s payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

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.