Heartland Bank & Trust Co Cuts Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co lessened its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 56.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,818 shares during the quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $221,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 25,436 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 3,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 1,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $75.33 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $72.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.19% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. 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 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is 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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup dropped 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. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “hold” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.98.

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.