Denali Advisors LLC Sells 6,100 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Denali Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 61.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,100 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $2,623,044,000. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,308,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,162,000 after buying an additional 2,677,050 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 3,833,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $189,684,000 after buying an additional 1,951,477 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,780,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,668,000 after buying an additional 1,729,132 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 91.5% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,503,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673,917 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.66. 6,698,349 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,370,916. The company has a market capitalization of $211.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $59.54 and its 200 day moving average is $55.30. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $38.38 and a 1 year high of $62.55.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.19 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 12.30%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $61.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target (up from $56.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.36.

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.