BTC Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

BTC Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 19.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 169,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 39,598 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company comprises about 1.1% of BTC Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. BTC Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $11,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% during the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 575,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,505,000 after buying an additional 11,037 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 37.2% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 638,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,055,000 after buying an additional 173,083 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 17.4% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 177,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,031,000 after buying an additional 26,320 shares during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 132,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,504,000 after buying an additional 18,717 shares during the period. Finally, Argus Investors Counsel Inc. grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% during the third quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 31,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,780,000 after buying an additional 8,107 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:WFC opened at $78.89 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $47.45 and a fifty-two week high of $79.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $262.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.58.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Compass Point upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.39.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.