DF Dent & Co. Inc. Decreases Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 75.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,189 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,039 shares during the quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 190,330 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,369,000 after acquiring an additional 30,510 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. NatWest Group plc increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 172,484 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,115,000 after purchasing an additional 63,102 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,451,000. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,656,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.50.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE WFC traded down $4.76 on Friday, reaching $60.91. The company had a trading volume of 31,028,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,232,166. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.89 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $81.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $74.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.44.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.