Nordea Investment Management AB Purchases 575,892 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,284,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 575,892 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $441,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 831,975 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 15.2% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,789,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $383,532,000 after acquiring an additional 897,195 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,641,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $375,183,000 after acquiring an additional 162,066 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,375,000 after purchasing an additional 5,237,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $160,529,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WFC. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $61.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Compass Point lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.57.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.6 %

WFC opened at $71.31 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $46.12 and a 52 week high of $78.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.51. The company has a market capitalization of $237.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The business had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Wells Fargo & Company 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 value of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were 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 26.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.