Welch & Forbes LLC Cuts Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Welch & Forbes LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,446 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 208.0% in the 4th quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 528,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 356,620 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Compass Point reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.99.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of WFC traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.24. The company had a trading volume of 16,268,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,899,662. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.76. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.18.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.19 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.23%.

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.