Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Decreases Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG cut its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 904,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 38,699 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company makes up approximately 1.4% of Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $63,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,237,500 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $160,529,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 158.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,709,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,659,716 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 410.8% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,374,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,567,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in 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 valued at $383,532,000 after acquiring an additional 897,195 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.1 %

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $79.68 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $48.62 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $74.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.96. The company has a market capitalization of $265.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.18.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 report on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.