Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires 43,782 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 320.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 43,782 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 684,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,644,000 after buying an additional 155,098 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 189,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,683,000 after buying an additional 17,572 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter worth $428,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 158,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,927,000 after buying an additional 37,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WFC. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.62.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $73.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $243.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $44.41 and a 1 year high of $78.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.61.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,421,957. The trade was a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $2,169,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,853,327.13. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & 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.