FORA Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 9,005 WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 9,005 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in WaFd by 80.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of WaFd by 515.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,305 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of WaFd by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,644 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of WaFd by 60.1% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,904 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of WaFd by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WAFD. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson increased their target price on WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WaFd has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.00.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of WaFd stock opened at $36.58 on Friday. WaFd, Inc has a one year low of $25.78 and a one year high of $38.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.44 and its 200 day moving average is $32.92. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. WaFd had a return on equity of 9.44% and a net margin of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $389.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that WaFd, Inc will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WaFd

In other news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total transaction of $404,359.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,345,532.08. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.25% of the company’s stock.

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.