Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing 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 quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Income Research & Management bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth $211,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% in the 2nd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WFC. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. 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. Compass Point raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Thirteen investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were 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 owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at $7,853,327.13. This trade represents a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at $10,421,957. This trade represents a 26.83 % 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 Stock Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $76.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98, a PEG ratio of 1.58 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. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $42.52 and a one year high of $77.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $63.74 and a 200 day moving average of $59.91.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.26%.

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.