Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Has $9.43 Million Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 167,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,631 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $9,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth about $26,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% in the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Compass Point lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $2,169,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,853,327.13. This trade represents a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 represents a 26.83 % 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.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:WFC opened at $73.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $42.15 and a one year high of $74.70. The company has a market cap of $244.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $62.35 and a 200-day moving average of $59.59.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 33.26%.

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.