Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. cut its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,893 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter worth about $272,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 13,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $812,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 93,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,581,000 after buying an additional 13,241 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 248,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,748,000 after acquiring an additional 2,255 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 74,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,442,000 after acquiring an additional 19,790 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Compass Point raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE WFC opened at $77.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $72.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.44. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $46.12 and a 12 month high of $78.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

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.