Teacher Retirement System of Texas Reduces Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 17.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,060,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 231,495 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $88,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the third quarter. Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 6,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Embree Financial Group boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 3,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 12,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% during the third quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on WFC. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.87.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $88.08 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $90.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $276.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.09. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $58.42 and a one year high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The company had revenue of $21.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 28.71%.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.