Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 26.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,007 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Defender Capital LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at about $246,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $124,000. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter worth approximately $222,000. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 273,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,274,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 9,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WFC. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday. HSBC lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.85.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $58.74 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $36.40 and a 52-week high of $59.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $207.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.19.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.19 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.23%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.