Balentine LLC Sells 506 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Balentine LLC cut its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 506 shares during the period. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. New Republic Capital LLC increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 5,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $133,000. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $217,000. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 6,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 1,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 341,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,967,000 after acquiring an additional 5,716 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $79.05 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $73.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.51. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $47.59 and a 52 week high of $81.50. The company has a market capitalization of $263.21 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.18.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The business’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WFC. Barclays lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.