Bridgewater Associates LP Buys 605,146 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,409,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 605,146 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $79,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WFC. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% in the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In other news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,957. This trade represents a 26.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 report on Tuesday, November 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.07.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of WFC stock opened at $77.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $257.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.14. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $42.52 and a 12-month high of $78.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.20 and a 200-day moving average of $60.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.