Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Purchases 566 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 566 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% during the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter worth approximately $47,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $76.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $255.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.91. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $42.52 and a 1 year high of $77.31.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.26%.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In related news, 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 transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at $10,421,957. The trade was a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WFC shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Compass Point boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.07.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.