Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Moody National Bank Trust Division

Moody National Bank Trust Division reduced its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,472 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% in the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 141,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,385,000 after purchasing an additional 19,851 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 31,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,883,000 after buying an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. Williams Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $829,000. Finally, Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at approximately $10,363,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $3,822,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,957. This represents a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $70.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,053,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,767,382. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $46.12 and a fifty-two week high of $78.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.97.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $61.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.92.

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.