Yacktman Asset Management LP Reduces Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Yacktman Asset Management LP reduced its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,839,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 665,333 shares during the period. Yacktman Asset Management LP owned about 0.05% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $103,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 575,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,505,000 after acquiring an additional 11,037 shares in the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% in the third quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 31,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,780,000 after purchasing an additional 8,107 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 40.0% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 179,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,648,000 after purchasing an additional 51,234 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.3% during the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 11,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,108,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $63.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.59. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $40.27 and a 12 month high of $66.39.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. The company had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on WFC. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at $7,853,327.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at $7,853,327.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $3,822,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,421,957. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.