WaFd, Inc. $WAFD Shares Sold by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,079,482 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 26,389 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in WaFd were worth $34,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WAFD. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 22,011 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 2,783 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 271.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 30,794 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 22,499 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,094 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 10,092 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 246,467 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,044,000 after purchasing an additional 20,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 862.6% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,306 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 62,106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at WaFd

In other news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 116,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,972.72. This trade represents a 15.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price target on WaFd in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research raised WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen raised WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Weiss Ratings raised WaFd from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.80.

WaFd Price Performance

WAFD opened at $34.32 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $32.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.41. WaFd, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.31 and a 12-month high of $38.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 0.85.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.09. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 18.25%.The firm had revenue of $197.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.29%.

WaFd Profile

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.