Meritage Portfolio Management Reduces Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Meritage Portfolio Management lowered its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 153,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,379 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $7,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 82,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,047,000 after buying an additional 4,532 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 101,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,991,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $2,067,000. Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 22,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up from $57.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Odeon Capital Group cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $48.80 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.85.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC traded up $0.47 on Friday, hitting $60.40. The company had a trading volume of 11,318,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,013,752. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $56.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.42. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $36.40 and a 1-year high of $61.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $213.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.19.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. The company had revenue of $20.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.