WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Stock Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $32.86 and traded as high as $35.38. WaFd shares last traded at $35.00, with a volume of 648,123 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WAFD shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, WaFd presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.80.

WaFd Trading Down 1.6%

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.86. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $197.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.51 million. WaFd had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total transaction of $776,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 116,099 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,972.72. This represents a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in WaFd by 399.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 333,712 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,689,000 after purchasing an additional 266,891 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its position in WaFd by 373.8% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 287,947 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,223,000 after purchasing an additional 227,174 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in WaFd by 28.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 905,863 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,444,000 after purchasing an additional 198,728 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in WaFd by 52.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 448,716 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,372,000 after purchasing an additional 153,556 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in WaFd by 11.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,375,110 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,652,000 after purchasing an additional 145,646 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Company 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.