Sapient Capital LLC Boosts Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Sapient Capital LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 341,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,716 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $23,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,375,000 after buying an additional 5,237,500 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $160,529,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 158.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,709,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,716 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 410.8% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,374,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,679 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 15.2% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,789,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $383,532,000 after purchasing an additional 897,195 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $79.05 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $73.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.51. The stock has a market cap of $263.21 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.18. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $47.59 and a one year high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

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.