First County Bank CT Decreases Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

First County Bank CT reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 220 shares during the quarter. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% in the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $55.90 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $38.38 and a 1-year high of $62.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $55.74 and a 200-day moving average of $57.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $194.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WFC. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.29.

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.