Bill Few Associates Inc. Has $324,000 Stock Holdings in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Bill Few Associates Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 841 shares during the quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings in WesBanco were worth $324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in WesBanco by 17,801.0% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 170,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,626,000 after buying an additional 170,000 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco in the 4th quarter valued at $78,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 29,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 7,405 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank increased its position in shares of WesBanco by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 2,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in WesBanco by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 232,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,926,000 after purchasing an additional 34,008 shares during the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $39,228.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,508.79. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WSBC. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upgraded WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.83.

WesBanco Price Performance

Shares of WSBC stock opened at $31.74 on Thursday. WesBanco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.56 and a 1 year high of $37.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $33.79 and its 200-day moving average is $32.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 0.85.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.79%. Sell-side analysts forecast that WesBanco, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.66%. This is a positive change from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.81%.

About WesBanco

WesBanco, Inc operates as the bank holding company for WesBanco Bank, Inc that provides retail banking, corporate banking, personal and corporate trust, brokerage, mortgage banking, and insurance services to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Community Banking, and Trust and Investment Services.