Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,887,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 484,467 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $219,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 32.2% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 99,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,595,000 after purchasing an additional 24,126 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised 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 in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 638,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,055,000 after acquiring an additional 173,083 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 177,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,031,000 after acquiring an additional 26,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 132,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,504,000 after acquiring an additional 18,717 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,421,957. This trade represents a 26.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. This trade represents a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wolfe Research raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.49.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $68.85 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.48. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $46.12 and a 52 week high of $78.13. The stock has a market cap of $229.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.16. 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 (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 33.26%.

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.