Empirical Finance LLC Increases Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 127,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,751 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $7,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 11,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter worth $36,581,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7.0% during the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 1,879 shares in the last quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 126,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,344,000 after purchasing an additional 11,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $72.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.11. The company has a market capitalization of $241.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.14. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $41.99 and a fifty-two week high of $74.27.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $2,169,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at $10,421,957. The trade was a 26.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.12.

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.