WaFd, Inc. $WAFD Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,077,059 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,569 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in WaFd were worth $62,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of WaFd by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 23,474 shares of the bank’s stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in shares of WaFd in the 3rd quarter valued at about $263,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in WaFd during the third quarter worth about $374,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new position in WaFd in the third quarter worth about $2,117,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in WaFd by 2.7% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,070 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $33.50 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on WaFd from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Cathy E. Cooper sold 5,300 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total transaction of $178,981.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 94,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,199,876.35. The trade was a 5.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 insiders.

WaFd Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of WaFd stock opened at $31.78 on Thursday. WaFd, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.75 and a 12-month high of $34.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.62 and its 200-day moving average is $31.53.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.01). WaFd had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 17.45%.The firm had revenue of $188.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.36 million. Equities analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. WaFd’s payout ratio is 37.37%.

About WaFd

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.