Congress Asset Management Co. Increases Stock Position in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 227,039 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,938 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned approximately 0.28% of WaFd worth $7,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of WaFd by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,969,790 shares of the bank’s stock worth $138,347,000 after buying an additional 195,845 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in WaFd by 10.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,759,135 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,318,000 after purchasing an additional 159,750 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its stake in WaFd by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,432,523 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,923,000 after purchasing an additional 253,044 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of WaFd by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,225,248 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,700,000 after purchasing an additional 84,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of WaFd during the 3rd quarter worth $18,583,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. DA Davidson lowered shares of WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price 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. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.75.

WaFd Stock Down 0.6 %

WAFD opened at $29.77 on Monday. WaFd, Inc has a 12 month low of $25.78 and a 12 month high of $38.62. The company has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.67 and a 200 day moving average of $34.04.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from WaFd’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.93%.

WaFd Company 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.