Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Acquired by WASHINGTON TRUST Co

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 19.5% during the third quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 7,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 410.5% in the third quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 67,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,757,000 after purchasing an additional 54,262 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,967,000. United Services Automobile Association increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.7% during the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 97,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,000,000 after acquiring an additional 11,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 61.7% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 121,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,983,000 after acquiring an additional 46,525 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.7 %

WFC traded up $0.39 during trading on Thursday, reaching $58.00. 6,031,934 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,993,621. The stock has a market cap of $205.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $36.27 and a fifty-two week high of $58.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.94.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.30). Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 16.60%. The company had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 4.72 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 29.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WFC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $62.00 target price (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday. Odeon Capital Group cut Wells Fargo & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $48.80 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Twelve investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.85.

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.