Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Lowers Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lowered its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 100,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,671 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $5,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter worth $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $37,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 54.5% during the second quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 865 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 126,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. This trade represents a 21.65 % 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 company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Compass Point lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "neutral" rating to an "accumulate" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.12.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 2.1 %

Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $1.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $74.34. The stock had a trading volume of 18,836,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,126,145. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $41.99 and a 52 week high of $74.41. The stock has a market cap of $247.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.30.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. Analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is currently 33.26%.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.