Welch & Forbes LLC Acquires 199 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 46,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:WFC opened at $71.01 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.15 and a 52 week high of $81.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $76.10 and a 200 day moving average of $68.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on WFC shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Compass Point upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently 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.