Empirical Finance LLC Has $8.84 Million Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Empirical Finance LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 125,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,957 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $8,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth $29,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $80.76 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.43. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $47.47 and a one year high of $81.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $268.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.01, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.