Royce & Associates LP Sells 11,605 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its holdings in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD - Free Report) by 35.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,058 shares of the bank's stock after selling 11,605 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP's holdings in WaFd were worth $679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in shares of WaFd by 112.7% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the bank's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,000 shares of the bank's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in WaFd by 35.1% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,797 shares of the bank's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of WaFd by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,638 shares of the bank's stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of WaFd during the 3rd quarter worth about $237,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WAFD. DA Davidson lowered WaFd from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of WaFd from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on WaFd from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.75.

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WaFd Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WAFD traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $28.93. 495,037 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 473,531. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. WaFd, Inc has a twelve month low of $25.79 and a twelve month high of $38.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.43 and a 200 day moving average of $32.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.83.

WaFd Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. 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 3.73%. WaFd's payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

About WaFd

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.