Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 17.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% during the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $72.79 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $242.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $60.15 and its 200 day moving average is $59.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $41.46 and a 52-week high of $74.27.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 33.26%.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Compass Point increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.12.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.