Forsta AP Fonden Lowers Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 6.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 816,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 52,300 shares during the quarter. 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. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $2,623,044,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 26,319,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,295,459,000 after acquiring an additional 263,176 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 25,218,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,241,231,000 after purchasing an additional 781,772 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,905,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,690,000 after purchasing an additional 25,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,349,595 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $53.73 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.94. The stock has a market cap of $187.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16. 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.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 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.