Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 49,258 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH trimmed its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,175,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 49,258 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $84,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $74.95 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 28.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. 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 target for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.68.

Wells Fargo & 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.