Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 2,485,189 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,903,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,485,189 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 1.02% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $2,381,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Quantessence Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,805,000. Alta Advisers Ltd increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 11,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $334,000. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,611,000. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on WFC shares. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 report on Thursday, April 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.34.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 3.5 %

WFC stock opened at $66.24 on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $81.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.28.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 28.73%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.