First City Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

First City Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,757 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 575,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,505,000 after purchasing an additional 11,037 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 132,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,504,000 after acquiring an additional 18,717 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% in the third quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 31,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,780,000 after acquiring an additional 8,107 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 111.1% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,947,000 after acquiring an additional 18,138 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 382,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,620,000 after acquiring an additional 20,149 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $2,169,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at $7,853,327.13. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $3,822,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,421,957. This represents a 26.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $74.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $246.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $61.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.40. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $42.15 and a twelve month high of $74.70.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.26%.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.