Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Purchased by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth $29,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Compass Point boosted 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, December 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $77.22 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $46.12 and a 52 week high of $78.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $257.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.74 and a 200-day moving average of $63.44.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.26%.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.