MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 5,534 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 881,314 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,534 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $61,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 190,330 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,369,000 after buying an additional 30,510 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. NatWest Group plc lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 172,484 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,115,000 after acquiring an additional 63,102 shares during the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $1,656,000. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,562 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,444,000 after buying an additional 2,548 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.0 %

WFC opened at $64.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $211.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.01, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company's 50 day moving average is $71.23 and its 200-day moving average is $71.05. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.15 and a 1-year high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.34.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.