Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Holdings Raised by Grimes & Company Inc.

Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 3.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 31,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 949 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Income Research & Management bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth about $211,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% in the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% in the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 completion of 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,421,957. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Wolfe Research raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Phillip Securities raised 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, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.82.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $65.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $222.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16. 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 52-week low of $38.58 and a 52-week high of $65.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.15.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 33.26%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.