Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 425,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 39,021 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $24,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,848,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,178,591,000 after acquiring an additional 831,975 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 15.2% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,789,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $383,532,000 after purchasing an additional 897,195 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,641,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $375,183,000 after purchasing an additional 162,066 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% during the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 5,278,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $313,500,000 after purchasing an additional 108,480 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $160,529,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of WFC stock opened at $75.96 on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $42.52 and a 1 year high of $76.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $63.28 and its 200-day moving average is $59.80. The stock has a market cap of $252.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.14.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,957. The trade was a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,853,327.13. This trade represents a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WFC. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Compass Point upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.07.

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.