Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Acquires 42,096 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,696,480 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 42,096 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned 4.53% of WaFd worth $119,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WaFd during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,766,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in WaFd by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 47,174 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,521,000 after buying an additional 6,682 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in WaFd by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,958 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,643,000 after buying an additional 40,499 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in WaFd by 152.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 469,704 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,143,000 after acquiring an additional 283,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in WaFd by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 447,621 shares of the bank's stock valued at $14,431,000 after acquiring an additional 19,117 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 brokerages have commented on WAFD. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. DA Davidson downgraded shares of WaFd from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of WaFd from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of WaFd from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a report on Monday, April 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.50.

WaFd Stock Performance

NASDAQ WAFD opened at $28.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.79. WaFd, Inc has a 52-week low of $23.75 and a 52-week high of $38.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.71.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $179.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.17 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 12.66%. On average, research analysts predict that WaFd, Inc will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from WaFd's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. WaFd's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.75%.

WaFd 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.

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