Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Fortem Financial Group LLC

Fortem Financial Group LLC trimmed its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 149 shares during the quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in 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 during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of 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. lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% during 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 during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,284,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,983,000 after acquiring an additional 575,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,237,500 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $72.02. 8,851,352 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,613,486. The stock has a market cap of $239.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $46.12 and a 12 month high of $78.13.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.26%.

Insider Transactions at Wells Fargo & Company

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Compass Point increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.63.

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.