Olstein Capital Management L.P. Decreases Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. cut its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 18.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 130,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 30,000 shares during the quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $7,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WFC shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price objective (up from $57.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. StockNews.com raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $61.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, April 15th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.36.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WFC traded down $0.31 on Wednesday, hitting $60.66. The company had a trading volume of 6,698,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,370,920. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $38.38 and a 12-month high of $62.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $59.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.17.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. The company had revenue of $20.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.23%.

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.