Traynor Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Traynor Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 31.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,433 shares during the period. Traynor Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WFC shares. Argus raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective (up from $57.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $61.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.99.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:WFC opened at $59.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $205.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $38.38 and a 52-week high of $62.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.84.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.23%.

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.