Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,047,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 443,591 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.12% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $240,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% in the 1st quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. 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 note on Monday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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 research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Twelve equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE:WFC opened at $56.26 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $38.38 and a one year high of $62.55. The stock has a market cap of $196.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $56.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.88.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 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.