AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Purchases 431,498 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,419,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 431,498 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $80,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% in the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% in the 1st quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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 report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.12.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $64.78. 2,683,958 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,969,092. The stock has a market cap of $220.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s fifty day moving average is $58.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.44. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $39.24 and a one year high of $66.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The business had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 33.26%.

Insider Transactions at Wells Fargo & Company

In related news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $3,822,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,421,957. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.