Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Freemont Management S.A.

Freemont Management S.A. reduced its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 83.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 153,700 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for about 0.9% of Freemont Management S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Freemont Management S.A.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $2,623,044,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 26,319,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,295,459,000 after buying an additional 263,176 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 25,218,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,241,231,000 after buying an additional 781,772 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,905,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,690,000 after acquiring an additional 25,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,226,000 after acquiring an additional 2,349,595 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE:WFC traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $54.60. 811,072 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,699,543. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $38.38 and a 1-year high of $62.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $57.31 and its 200-day moving average is $57.96. The stock has a market cap of $185.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The business had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.