Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 19,114 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 13.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 159,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,114 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $9,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,848,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,178,591,000 after purchasing an additional 831,975 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,789,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $383,532,000 after purchasing an additional 897,195 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,641,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $375,183,000 after buying an additional 162,066 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,226,000 after buying an additional 2,349,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Pacific Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% in the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 5,278,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,500,000 after buying an additional 108,480 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WFC shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated 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. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and upped their price target for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.12.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $74.34 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $41.99 and a 1 year high of $74.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.30.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wells Fargo & Company

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,421,957. This trade represents a 26.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.