Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 202,820 WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 202,820 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $6,539,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.25% of WaFd as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WAFD. FMR LLC raised its holdings in WaFd by 15.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,493 shares of the bank’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 69.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 28,997 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,011,000 after buying an additional 11,868 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 157,962 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,505,000 after buying an additional 8,769 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WaFd in the third quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in WaFd by 14.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 34,255 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 4,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ WAFD opened at $24.79 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $28.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.26. WaFd, Inc has a 12-month low of $24.00 and a 12-month high of $38.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.79.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is 49.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. DA Davidson cut shares of WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WaFd currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.75.

WaFd 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.