Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 700 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. trimmed its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $1,656,000. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after buying an additional 2,548 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 204,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,343,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jessup Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $224,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $72.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $71.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.93. The company has a market capitalization of $235.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WFC. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.68.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.