Avanza Fonder AB Acquires New Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 9,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $928,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Main Street Group LTD increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 3,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 4,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Consulting Group boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.6% in the third quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 7,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WFC. Robert W. Baird upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $109.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Freedom Capital cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $113.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.82.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $79.61 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $245.64 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.08. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $58.42 and a 12 month high of $97.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.32.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $21.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.63 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.27%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Kleber Santos sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.72, for a total transaction of $2,193,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 79,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,006,722.72. The trade was a 23.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total transaction of $5,244,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 169,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,813,950.40. This trade represents a 26.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 115,000 shares of company stock worth $10,050,000 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.