Insider Selling: Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) EVP Sells 25,000 Shares of Stock

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) EVP Kleber Santos sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.72, for a total value of $2,193,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 79,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,006,722.72. This trade represents a 23.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $88.61. 14,241,940 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,199,527. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $58.42 and a 12-month high of $97.76. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.07. The company has a market capitalization of $278.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.09.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.27%.The firm had revenue of $11.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,990,551,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 54.9% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,635,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,332,851,000 after purchasing an additional 5,894,747 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 18.6% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,660,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,989,104,000 after purchasing an additional 5,584,930 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 177.7% during the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,876,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $454,455,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $215,638,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Robert W. Baird raised Wells Fargo & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Evercore dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $99.00 to $99.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.03.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.