Selway Asset Management Boosts Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Selway Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,400 shares during the period. Selway Asset Management’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 7.5 %

Shares of WFC traded down $5.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $66.87. The company had a trading volume of 13,140,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,093,658. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $75.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.43. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.15 and a 52 week high of $81.50. The company has a market capitalization of $218.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.55.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

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.