Argent Trust Co Trims Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Argent Trust Co trimmed its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 86,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,918 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $6,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 190,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,369,000 after acquiring an additional 30,510 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. NatWest Group plc grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 172,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,115,000 after acquiring an additional 63,102 shares in the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,656,000. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded down $2.56 during trading on Thursday, hitting $63.77. 2,602,215 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,475,748. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $50.15 and a 1 year high of $81.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.74.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $77.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.66.

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.