Optas LLC Sells 269 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Optas LLC decreased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 269 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,178,591,000 after acquiring an additional 831,975 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,226,000 after acquiring an additional 2,349,595 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 5,278,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,500,000 after acquiring an additional 108,480 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 38.1% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,131,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $297,411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,662,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,035,000 after acquiring an additional 48,419 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 note on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.12.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $64.68 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $220.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.14. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $39.39 and a twelve month high of $66.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.56.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The company had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 33.26%.

Insider Transactions at Wells Fargo & Company

In related news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at $10,421,957. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company 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 approximately $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,957. The trade was a 0.00 % 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 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.