Baron Wealth Management LLC Sells 651 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Baron Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 13.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 651 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,848,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,178,591,000 after acquiring an additional 831,975 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,789,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,532,000 after acquiring an additional 897,195 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,641,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $375,183,000 after buying an additional 162,066 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,226,000 after buying an additional 2,349,595 shares during the period. Finally, First Pacific Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 5,278,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $313,500,000 after buying an additional 108,480 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Compass Point boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.12.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was 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 owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at $7,853,327.13. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $3,822,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,421,957. This represents a 26.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $74.09 on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $42.15 and a twelve month high of $74.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $61.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.40. The company has a market capitalization of $246.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 33.26%.

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.