Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) by 60.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 66,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,029 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Washington Trust Bancorp were worth $2,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Washington Trust Bancorp by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 826,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,642,000 after acquiring an additional 59,115 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Washington Trust Bancorp by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 282,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,755,000 after acquiring an additional 40,122 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Washington Trust Bancorp by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 136,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,732,000 after acquiring an additional 14,910 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Washington Trust Bancorp by 56.6% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 108,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,979,000 after acquiring an additional 39,268 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Washington Trust Bancorp by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 103,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,344,000 after acquiring an additional 14,028 shares during the period. 65.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised Washington Trust Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Washington Trust Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Washington Trust Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of WASH stock opened at $32.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $632.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.69. Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.11 and a 12-month high of $40.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63.

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08. Washington Trust Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.55% and a net margin of 11.24%. The firm had revenue of $103.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.32 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.49 EPS for the current year.

Washington Trust Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Washington Trust Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 83.90%.

Washington Trust Bancorp Company Profile

Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for The Washington Trust Company, of Westerly that provides various banking and financial services to individuals and businesses. The company operates in two segments, Commercial Banking and Wealth Management Services. The Commercial Banking segment offers deposit accounts, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing demand deposits, NOW and savings accounts, money market and retirement deposit accounts, and time deposits; various commercial and retail lending products, such as commercial real estate loans, including commercial mortgages, and construction and development loans; commercial and industrial loans comprising working capital, equipment financing, and financing for other business-related purposes; residential real estate loans that consist of mortgage and homeowner construction loans; and consumer loans comprising home equity loans and lines of credit, personal installment loans, and loans to individuals secured by general aviation aircraft.