Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Shares Sold by Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lessened its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,636,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,283 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company makes up 1.0% of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $117,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 25,436 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 75,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,290,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 449,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,615,000 after purchasing an additional 7,959 shares during the last quarter. Lionshead Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $243,000. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $56,968,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of WFC stock opened at $79.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $80.52 and a 200 day moving average of $75.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $253.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.25. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.22 and a twelve month high of $84.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%.Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial cut Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Phillip Securities cut Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.56.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.