Ameriprise Financial Inc. Reduces Holdings in WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of WaFd, Inc (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,170,354 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 63,663 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in WaFd were worth $37,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAFD. Rhino Investment Partners Inc boosted its stake in WaFd by 344.3% during the fourth quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 454,343 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,648,000 after buying an additional 352,076 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in WaFd by 152.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 469,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,143,000 after buying an additional 283,953 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in WaFd by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,774,081 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,196,000 after buying an additional 234,977 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in WaFd during the fourth quarter worth $6,539,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 493,501 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,910,000 after purchasing an additional 191,855 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Price Performance

WAFD opened at $29.91 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $27.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.07. WaFd, Inc has a 12-month low of $23.75 and a 12-month high of $38.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.85.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $179.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.17 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WaFd, Inc will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on WAFD. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on WaFd from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com raised WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on WaFd from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered WaFd from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.50.

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.