Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $8,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% during the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.65.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE:WFC opened at $57.16 on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $38.58 and a 52-week high of $62.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $55.36 and a 200 day moving average of $57.76. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $199.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.85%.

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.