Forsta AP Fonden Cuts Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Forsta AP Fonden cut its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 6.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 816,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 52,300 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $48,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs now owns 7,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. McAdam LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.3% during the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 5,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 5,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $53.73 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $38.38 and a fifty-two week high of $62.55. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.92 and a 200-day moving average of $57.94. The stock has a market cap of $187.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

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.