17,038 Shares in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) Purchased by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 17,038 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $549,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in WaFd by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,969,790 shares of the bank’s stock worth $138,347,000 after acquiring an additional 195,845 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in WaFd by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,774,081 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,196,000 after purchasing an additional 234,977 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in WaFd by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,759,135 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,318,000 after purchasing an additional 159,750 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in WaFd by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,432,523 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,923,000 after purchasing an additional 253,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 929,760 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,975,000 after buying an additional 22,716 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WAFD opened at $28.75 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 0.83. WaFd, Inc has a 12 month low of $25.79 and a 12 month high of $38.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.64.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. 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 3.76%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

About WaFd

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.