HTLF Bank Sells 1,484 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

HTLF Bank lessened its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 43,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,484 shares during the period. HTLF Bank’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3,295.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,331,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404,898 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $339,226,000 after buying an additional 2,349,595 shares during the last quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 141.6% during the first quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 2,620,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $151,853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,152 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted 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 during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 378.5% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,198,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,493,000 after acquiring an additional 948,422 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wolfe Research raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Compass Point raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC stock traded up $0.88 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $63.04. The company had a trading volume of 24,687,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,081,809. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $38.58 and a one year high of $63.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $55.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.82.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.85%.

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.