Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Shares Acquired by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 44.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 35,596 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $10,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. M3 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $489,000. Unison Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Unison Asset Management LLC now owns 101,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,451,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares during the period. Integrity Alliance LLC. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 19,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 2,343 shares during the period. Arvest Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 896.9% in the fourth quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division now owns 39,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,683,000 after purchasing an additional 35,553 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 116.6% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 52,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,861,000 after purchasing an additional 28,080 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Wells Fargo & Company

In related news, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total transaction of $5,244,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 169,496 shares in the company, valued at $14,813,950.40. The trade was a 26.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bridget E. Engle sold 30,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total transaction of $2,613,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 83,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,270,933.80. This represents a 26.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wells Fargo & Company News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC stock opened at $77.60 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $237.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.96. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $71.93 and a 1 year high of $97.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.10.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFCGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.02. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business had revenue of $11.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $113.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.53.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

(Free Report)

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

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