Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 8,779 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 193,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,779 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $11,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lazari Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,122,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 10,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 4,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 20,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $998,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 6,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Compass Point reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price target (up previously from $57.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $61.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.15.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE WFC traded down $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.51. 2,975,581 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,411,428. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $38.38 and a 12-month high of $62.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.17.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.19 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 12.30%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.23%.

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.