Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 1,063,134 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,437,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,063,134 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,435,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:WFC opened at $77.10 on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $81.50. The firm has a market cap of $256.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average is $75.30 and its 200 day moving average is $67.28.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI raised 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. UBS Group upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.