DF Dent & Co. Inc. Takes $747,000 Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 13,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $747,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 15.1% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 206,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,656,000 after purchasing an additional 27,049 shares in the last quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.3% during the third quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 38,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,128,000 after buying an additional 1,232 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $10,451,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,237,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,725,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $61.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.47.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of WFC stock opened at $74.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $44.65 and a 1-year high of $78.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.39 and a 200 day moving average of $60.79. 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 (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.26%.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,957. This represents a 26.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wells Fargo & 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.