WSFS Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WSFS) Shares Sold by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its stake in shares of WSFS Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WSFS) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,222 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 15,004 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.24% of WSFS Financial worth $7,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in WSFS Financial by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,313,175 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,899,000 after acquiring an additional 19,895 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of WSFS Financial by 309.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,687,824 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276,078 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of WSFS Financial by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 809,334 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000,000 after purchasing an additional 9,542 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its holdings in shares of WSFS Financial by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 782,767 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,588,000 after purchasing an additional 11,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WSFS Financial by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 740,584 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,347,000 after purchasing an additional 19,650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WSFS shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of WSFS Financial in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of WSFS Financial from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Rodger Levenson sold 7,199 shares of WSFS Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total value of $397,384.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,780 shares in the company, valued at $7,881,456. The trade was a 4.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WSFS Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WSFS stock opened at $53.08 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $51.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 0.86. WSFS Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $42.21 and a 52-week high of $62.75.

WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.09. WSFS Financial had a return on equity of 10.30% and a net margin of 18.77%. The business had revenue of $256.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $235.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WSFS Financial Co. will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

WSFS Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. This is a positive change from WSFS Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. WSFS Financial’s payout ratio is 15.28%.

About WSFS Financial

WSFS Financial Corporation operates as the savings and loan holding company for the Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB that provides various banking services in the United States. It operates through three segments: WSFS Bank, Cash Connect, and Wealth Management. It offers various deposit products, including savings accounts, demand deposits, interest-bearing demand deposits, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as accepts jumbo certificates of deposit from individuals, businesses, and municipalities.