Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Sells 4,345 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC reduced its stake in Wells Fargo by 8.5%, selling 4,345 shares during the second quarter, leaving them with 46,517 shares worth approximately $3.73 million.
• Wells Fargo increased its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.1% and a dividend payout ratio of 29.61%.
• Research analysts have upgraded Wells Fargo's stock rating to "moderate buy", with the current consensus target price at $89.57 and a solid earnings report showing a 5.3% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year.

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lowered its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 8.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,345 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Management Partners LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.5% during the second quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 3,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Motive Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 3,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,443,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vivid Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vivid Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,243 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,381,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on WFC shares. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Cfra Research upgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities cut Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.57.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 2.2%

WFC opened at $86.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.72. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $58.42 and a fifty-two week high of $87.47. The company has a market cap of $276.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.11 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.61%.

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.

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