Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Decreases Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. decreased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 693,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 107,504 shares during the quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $39,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth $29,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% during the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. This trade represents a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,957. This trade represents a 26.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WFC. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Compass Point upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.07.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE WFC traded down $0.48 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.42. The company had a trading volume of 1,648,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,063,791. The company’s fifty day moving average is $63.74 and its 200-day moving average is $59.91. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $42.52 and a one year high of $77.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $254.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.14.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.26%.

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.