Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Buys 1,013 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 983.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,116 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,013 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in WaFd were worth $36,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in WaFd by 152.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 469,704 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,143,000 after acquiring an additional 283,953 shares during the period. 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 valued at $57,196,000 after acquiring an additional 234,977 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in WaFd in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,539,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in WaFd by 5.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,969,790 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $138,347,000 after acquiring an additional 195,845 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in WaFd by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,420,004 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $303,701,000 after acquiring an additional 166,931 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WAFD opened at $26.43 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.16. WaFd, Inc has a 52 week low of $23.91 and a 52 week high of $38.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.79.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is 49.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WAFD shares. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com cut WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. 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. DA Davidson cut WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.75.

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.