Modus Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 432 Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $30,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,848,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,178,591,000 after buying an additional 831,975 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $383,532,000 after purchasing an additional 897,195 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,641,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $375,183,000 after purchasing an additional 162,066 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,375,000 after purchasing an additional 5,237,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $160,529,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $61.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Thirteen 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at $10,421,957. This represents a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $2,169,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,853,327.13. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:WFC opened at $71.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $237.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $46.12 and a 1 year high of $78.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.38 and a 200-day moving average of $62.37.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.26%.

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.