Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Stake Lessened by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 34.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 105,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 55,111 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.31% of Heritage Financial worth $2,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,283 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,684,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 105.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 37,606 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 73.8% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 35,933 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 15,259 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 46.9% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 65,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,417,000 after buying an additional 20,792 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,594,963 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,722,000 after buying an additional 4,012 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of HFWA traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $24.85. The stock had a trading volume of 275,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 159,129. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $848.63 million, a P/E ratio of 23.01 and a beta of 0.57. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $25.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.14. Heritage Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $16.55 and a 52 week high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 7.01%. On average, analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total transaction of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at $533,153.50. This trade represents a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HFWA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.00.

Heritage Financial Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Heritage Bank that provides various financial services to small and medium sized businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest demand deposits, interest bearing demand deposits, money market accounts, savings accounts, personal checking accounts, and certificates of deposit.