Ascent Group LLC Grows Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 33.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 52,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,101 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 575,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,505,000 after acquiring an additional 11,037 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 17.4% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 177,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,031,000 after buying an additional 26,320 shares during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 132,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,504,000 after buying an additional 18,717 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,027,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,055,000 after purchasing an additional 131,322 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WFC. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at $7,853,327.13. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,957. This trade represents a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 1.3 %

WFC opened at $76.17 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $253.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $43.48 and a 12 month high of $78.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $65.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.33.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 33.26%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.