Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Shares Sold by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC decreased its holdings in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,764 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $1,118,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 71.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,903,000 after purchasing an additional 725,257 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,884,000 after purchasing an additional 80,044 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the third quarter valued at $1,194,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $951,000. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the second quarter worth about $557,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In related news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $533,153.50. This trade represents a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stephens increased their price target on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 6.4 %

NASDAQ HFWA opened at $24.02 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $24.79 and a 200-day moving average of $21.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Heritage Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $16.55 and a 12 month high of $27.58. The company has a market cap of $820.38 million, a P/E ratio of 22.24 and a beta of 0.55.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.09). Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 12.27%. The company had revenue of $81.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is currently 85.19%.

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.