William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 103,432 Shares of WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 996,880 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 103,432 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 1.31% of WaFd worth $31,930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in WaFd by 42.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in WaFd by 57.6% during the 2nd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in WaFd by 604.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in WaFd during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in WaFd by 712.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $35.24 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. WaFd, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.31 and a 12 month high of $38.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.63. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.85.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.09. WaFd had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The firm had revenue of $197.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. WaFd’s payout ratio is presently 35.29%.

Insider Transactions at WaFd

In other WaFd news, EVP Kim E. Robison sold 22,000 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.28, for a total value of $776,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 116,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,972.72. The trade was a 15.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAFD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of WaFd from $30.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of WaFd from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of WaFd from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.80.

WaFd 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.