Custom Index Systems LLC Buys Shares of 3,500 Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Custom Index Systems LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,237,500 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $160,529,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 158.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,709,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,716 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 410.8% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,374,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,567,000 after buying an additional 1,105,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in 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 buying an additional 897,195 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $78.81 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $47.45 and a 52 week high of $79.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $262.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.59 and a 200-day moving average of $64.72.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WFC. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.39.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.