Martingale Asset Management L P Boosts Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 75.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,269 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 575,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,505,000 after purchasing an additional 11,037 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 132,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,504,000 after purchasing an additional 18,717 shares in the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% in the third quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 31,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,780,000 after buying an additional 8,107 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 14.7% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,027,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,055,000 after buying an additional 131,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 81.6% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,981,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $111,914,000 after buying an additional 889,953 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Wells Fargo & Company

In related news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,421,957. This represents a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of WFC stock opened at $74.14 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $44.41 and a one year high of $78.13. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.52. The company has a market capitalization of $246.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 33.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Compass Point upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of 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. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.62.

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.