Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. decreased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 95,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,491 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $5,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of WFC stock opened at $56.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $196.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.88. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $38.38 and a twelve month high of $62.55.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The business had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

Wells Fargo & 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.