Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 51,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,732 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company makes up 1.2% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Spinnaker Trust increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 7,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 5,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, New Republic Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 5,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $70.71 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $75.84 and a 200-day moving average of $69.92. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $81.50. The stock has a market cap of $230.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Compass Point boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.97.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.