Lafayette Investments Inc. Sells 1,500 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Lafayette Investments Inc. reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,049,693,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 129,312.1% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,287,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,085,410,000 after purchasing an additional 26,267,166 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1,478.6% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,390,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $406,609,000 after buying an additional 7,859,100 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter worth $345,861,000. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4,238.0% during the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 4,284,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $428,490,000 after buying an additional 4,186,124 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WFC. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price target (up from $57.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given 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 a consensus target price of $58.85.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of WFC stock traded up $2.02 on Friday, reaching $60.76. 11,192,252 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,653,197. The company has a market cap of $215.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $55.63 and a 200-day moving average of $48.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $36.40 and a one year high of $60.79.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The business had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.23%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.