South Dakota Investment Council Has $28.51 Million Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 405,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 55,729 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for about 0.6% of South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $28,508,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Delta Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $735,000. MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,818,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 23,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,658,000 after acquiring an additional 2,507 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 82.4% in the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 7,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 3,494 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $77.43 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $50.15 and a 1 year high of $81.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.01. The company has a market capitalization of $257.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on WFC shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.