Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Shares Purchased by Stevens Capital Management LP

Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 113.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 27,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,774 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company comprises about 0.9% of Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Group LTD grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 36.9% during the third quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 3,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 4,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WFC. Barclays reduced their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $113.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. HSBC raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Freedom Capital cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.53.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.9%

WFC stock opened at $79.88 on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $71.89 and a 12-month high of $97.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $80.67 and its 200 day moving average is $86.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $244.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.96.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $11.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.85 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 17.26%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total value of $5,244,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 169,496 shares in the company, valued at $14,813,950.40. This represents a 26.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bridget E. Engle sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total transaction of $2,613,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 83,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,270,933.80. This represents a 26.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 115,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,050,000 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.