Factory Mutual Insurance Co. Trims Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. lowered its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 0.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 605,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,500 shares during the quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $34,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% during the 2nd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% in the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC traded up $3.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $60.99. 37,049,236 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,983,938. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $55.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.79. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $38.58 and a 12-month high of $62.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $212.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. Research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WFC shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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 research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.07.

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.