B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 82,928 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG trimmed its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 39.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 82,928 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $8,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Norges Bank bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $3,365,658,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,375,000 after buying an additional 5,237,500 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $117,026,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,031,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 53.9% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 3,286,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $230,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150,443 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:WFC opened at $70.71 on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $81.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on WFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price target 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.97.

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.