Verition Fund Management LLC Boosts Stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 68,513 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,131 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in WaFd were worth $2,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in WaFd by 80.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in WaFd by 100.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,644 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 515.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,305 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 60.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,904 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of WaFd during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $80,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of WaFd stock opened at $35.82 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $35.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.10. WaFd, Inc has a one year low of $25.78 and a one year high of $38.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. WaFd had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.44%. The business had revenue of $389.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that WaFd, Inc will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. WaFd’s payout ratio is presently 41.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total value of $404,359.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 100,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,345,532.08. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.25% of the company’s stock.

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.