Eagle Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 10.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 169,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,411 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $9,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,848,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,178,591,000 after purchasing an additional 831,975 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 15.2% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,789,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,532,000 after buying an additional 897,195 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,641,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $375,183,000 after buying an additional 162,066 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 5,278,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $313,500,000 after buying an additional 108,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth about $160,529,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.07.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $75.96 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $42.52 and a one year high of $76.08. The company has a market cap of $252.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.81.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. 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.