King Luther Capital Management Corp Decreases Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lowered its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 107,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 618 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $5,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WFC. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 208.0% during the 4th quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 528,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 356,620 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WFC. Argus raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. StockNews.com raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Compass Point reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price (up from $56.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.99.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded down $0.74 on Thursday, reaching $60.19. 2,222,581 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,401,555. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $38.38 and a 1-year high of $62.55. The company has a market cap of $209.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $58.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.21.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.19 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 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.