533,241 Shares in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 533,241 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $18,583,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its position in WaFd by 3.3% during the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 11,703 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 6,887 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of WaFd by 1.6% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 24,596 shares of the bank’s stock worth $714,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of WaFd by 1.2% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 34,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $972,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in WaFd by 80.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WAFD opened at $33.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 0.83. WaFd, Inc has a one year low of $23.76 and a one year high of $37.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.31 and a 200 day moving average of $31.51.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $389.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.43 million. WaFd had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.44%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that WaFd, Inc will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. WaFd’s payout ratio is currently 41.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on WAFD shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on WaFd from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.00.

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.