Bridgewater Associates LP Grows Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Bridgewater Associates LP raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,409,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 605,146 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $79,596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth about $29,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of WFC opened at $77.31 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $42.52 and a 52 week high of $78.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 33.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WFC. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Compass Point lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.07.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $2,169,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at $10,421,957. This represents a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.