Capital Investment Counsel Inc Reduces Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc cut its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,813 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WFC. UBS Group raised 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 note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of WFC opened at $78.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $262.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day moving average is $75.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.73. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. Analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.74%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.