MetLife Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 886,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 43,398 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $50,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 20.8% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 88,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,103,000 after acquiring an additional 15,139 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 18.2% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 141.6% during the first quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 2,620,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,853,000 after buying an additional 1,536,152 shares during the period. Highlander Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 15,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $910,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $201,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WFC shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Compass Point upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, 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. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.07.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:WFC traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $77.69. 299,206 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,065,939. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $64.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $258.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.14. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $42.79 and a 52-week high of $78.13. 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 (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The company had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 33.26%.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In related news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was 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 approximately $7,853,327.13. This trade represents a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wells Fargo & 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.