Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Has $367,000 Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 65.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,177 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 105.5% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 1,010,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,060,000 after buying an additional 518,524 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 23,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,346,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 18.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 43,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,558,000 after purchasing an additional 6,841 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.7% during the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 7,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Savoie Capital LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,130,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $61.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Compass Point boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.49.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,957. This represents a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $70.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $68.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.18. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $46.12 and a 1 year high of $78.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.26%.

Wells Fargo & 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.