Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases 155,098 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 684,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 155,098 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company makes up about 2.0% of Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $38,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,848,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,178,591,000 after buying an additional 831,975 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,789,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $383,532,000 after acquiring an additional 897,195 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,641,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $375,183,000 after acquiring an additional 162,066 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 5,278,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,500,000 after purchasing an additional 108,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth approximately $160,529,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $10,421,957. This represents a 26.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 21.65 % 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 corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WFC. Wolfe Research upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.07.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $76.17 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $253.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.14. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $43.48 and a 52 week high of $78.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.33.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The company had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.26%.

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.