Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Kesler Norman & Wride LLC

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lowered its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 477 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price target on Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.55.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 7.5 %

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded down $5.39 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $66.87. The company had a trading volume of 13,140,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,093,658. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.50 and a 200 day moving average of $70.43.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.74%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.