Verity & Verity LLC Sells 645 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Verity & Verity LLC trimmed its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 13.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 645 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.5% during the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 177,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,744,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 106.9% during the first quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 789,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,645,000 after acquiring an additional 407,769 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.5% during the first quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 342,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 34.3% during the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 18,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 4,720 shares during the period. Finally, McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 24.1% during the first quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 4,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 907 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.68.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 1.3%

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $73.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $240.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average is $71.22 and its 200-day moving average is $72.97. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.73%.

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.