Janus Henderson Group PLC Acquires 4,300 Shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 14.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 34,255 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,300 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in WaFd were worth $1,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WAFD. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WaFd by 80.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in WaFd by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,644 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in WaFd by 515.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,305 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 60.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,904 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of WaFd during the second quarter worth approximately $80,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WaFd

In other WaFd news, EVP Ryan Mauer sold 12,132 shares of WaFd 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,345,532.08. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.25% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Stock Performance

Shares of WaFd stock opened at $35.35 on Friday. WaFd, Inc has a 52 week low of $25.78 and a 52 week high of $38.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.42.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. WaFd had a return on equity of 9.44% and a net margin of 13.97%. The firm had revenue of $389.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that WaFd, Inc will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on WaFd from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on WaFd from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WaFd has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

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.