HM Payson & Co. Sells 478 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

HM Payson & Co. cut its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 40,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 478 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WFC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $61.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (down from $70.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Compass Point reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.91.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC traded down $3.62 on Friday, reaching $53.26. The stock had a trading volume of 27,642,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,512,784. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $38.38 and a fifty-two week high of $62.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $58.87 and a 200-day moving average of $56.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $185.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.17.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Wells Fargo & 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.