River Global Investors LLP Decreases Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

River Global Investors LLP reduced its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 960 shares during the quarter. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% in the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% in the first 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 during the period. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at about $47,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.04. The company had a trading volume of 14,270,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,588,524. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $40.27 and a twelve month high of $74.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $233.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.86.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a 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 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Compass Point upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.12.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,853,327.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,853,327.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was 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 directly owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,421,957. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.