Vicus Capital Cuts Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Vicus Capital trimmed its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,738 shares during the quarter. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,848,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,178,591,000 after buying an additional 831,975 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,226,000 after buying an additional 2,349,595 shares during the period. First Pacific Advisors LP increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% during the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 5,278,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,500,000 after buying an additional 108,480 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 38.1% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,131,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $297,411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,662,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,035,000 after acquiring an additional 48,419 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WFC. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.82.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $64.81 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $56.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.11. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $38.58 and a 1 year high of $65.21. The stock has a market cap of $225.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The company had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 32.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wells Fargo & Company

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,421,957. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,957. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

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.