Optas LLC Trims Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Optas LLC lessened its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 47.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,151 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $536,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 585.5% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Motco raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Nova Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 112.9% in the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WFC. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Phillip Securities downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.41.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $79.74 on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $57.07 and a one year high of $86.65. The company has a market cap of $255.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.44.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%.The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.82%.

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.