First Citizens Financial Corp Has $435,000 Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

First Citizens Financial Corp grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 67.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,498 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,375,000 after purchasing an additional 5,237,500 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $160,529,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 3,295.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,331,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,493,000 after buying an additional 2,404,898 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 158.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,709,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,069,000 after buying an additional 1,659,716 shares during the period. Finally, 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 acquiring an additional 897,195 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $70.70. The company had a trading volume of 2,874,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,485,908. The stock has a market cap of $235.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $71.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $46.12 and a 52-week high of $78.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wells Fargo & Company

In other Wells Fargo & Company 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,957. The trade was a 26.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WFC shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $61.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.57.

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.