NatWest Group plc Sells 5,076 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• NatWest Group plc reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.8%, selling 5,076 shares during the second quarter, leaving it with 175,342 shares valued at approximately $14 million.
• Wells Fargo recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.45 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $1.80 and a yield of 2.1%.
• The company reported Q3 earnings of $1.66 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenues of $21.44 billion, marking a 5.3% year-over-year increase.

NatWest Group plc lessened its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 175,342 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,076 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company makes up about 4.2% of NatWest Group plc's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. NatWest Group plc's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $14,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Management Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% during the second quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.7% during the second quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 3,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.7% during the second quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivid Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.8% during the second quarter. Vivid Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,243 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WFC. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.57.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of WFC stock opened at $86.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $276.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.20, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $58.42 and a 52-week high of $87.47.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 17.18%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.