Olstein Capital Management L.P. Raises Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 124,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $7,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Compass Point boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.12.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock traded down $1.63 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $70.84. The stock had a trading volume of 2,593,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,087,359. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.72. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $40.27 and a twelve month high of $74.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.26%.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,421,957. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,957. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.