Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Elgethun Capital Management

Elgethun Capital Management trimmed its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 97.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 88,263 shares during the period. Elgethun Capital Management’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 441,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 15.1% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 206,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,656,000 after purchasing an additional 27,049 shares during the last quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $747,000. Zacks Investment Management raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 15,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 142,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,054,000 after buying an additional 3,539 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $60.91 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.93 and a 200-day moving average of $70.67. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $81.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.50.

Wells Fargo & 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.