Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 491 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Financial Counselors Inc. lessened its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 491 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,237,500 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 158.1% during the third 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 in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $85,031,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 410.8% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,374,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 81.6% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,981,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $111,914,000 after buying an additional 889,953 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC traded down $5.39 on Thursday, reaching $66.87. The stock had a trading volume of 13,140,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,093,658. The company has a market cap of $218.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $81.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $75.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.43. 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 (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Compass Point boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.55.

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.