Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 7.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,991,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 152,697 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $112,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.3% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 88,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 13.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 31,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,804,000 after purchasing an additional 3,613 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.6% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 14,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $868,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 8,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E&G Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7.8% during the second quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 6,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WFC. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Compass Point raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.49.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $70.86 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $46.12 and a twelve month high of $78.13. The firm has a market cap of $235.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $68.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 33.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,957. This represents a 26.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at $7,853,327.13. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.