Empirical Finance LLC Sells 1,957 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Empirical Finance LLC lowered its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,957 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $8,839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WFC. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,375,000 after buying an additional 5,237,500 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at $160,529,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 158.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,709,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,716 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 410.8% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,374,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,679 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,789,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,532,000 after purchasing an additional 897,195 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $80.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $268.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $47.47 and a 1-year high of $81.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $73.89 and its 200 day moving average is $65.43.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.39.

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.