Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 10,592 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 262,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,592 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $15,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% in the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WFC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $54.26 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $56.28 and a 200-day moving average of $57.89. The company has a market capitalization of $189.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $38.38 and a 1 year high of $62.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.