Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Position Cut by Appleton Partners Inc. MA

Appleton Partners Inc. MA decreased its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 463 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on WFC. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $61.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (down from $70.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.91.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC traded down $3.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.26. The stock had a trading volume of 27,642,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,512,784. The company has a market capitalization of $185.68 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.88. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $38.38 and a 1 year high of $62.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The company had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

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.