Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 154,220 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Teachers Retirement System of Kentucky cut its stake in Wells Fargo by 18.2%, selling 154,220 shares and now holding 692,630 shares valued at $64,553,000 (WFC is 0.5% of the fund's portfolio and its 25th largest holding).
• Corporate insiders have been selling recently: EVPs Ellen Patterson and Bridget Engle sold 60,000 and 30,000 shares on Feb 26, and insiders disposed of a total of 115,000 shares (~$10.05M) over the past three months, leaving insiders with about 0.14% ownership.
• Analysts rate WFC a consensus Moderate Buy with an average target of $97.75; the bank recently beat quarterly EPS estimates, pays a 2.3% dividend yield, and trades at a P/E of roughly 12.3.

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 18.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 692,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 154,220 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company makes up 0.5% of Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $64,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 18.6% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,660,903 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,989,104,000 after purchasing an additional 5,584,930 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,009,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,760,994,000 after buying an additional 399,088 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 7.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,859,680 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,496,998,000 after buying an additional 1,223,999 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,128,470 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $763,675,000 after buying an additional 174,350 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.2% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 7,673,807 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $643,219,000 after buying an additional 165,240 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wells Fargo & Company

In other news, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total transaction of $5,244,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 169,496 shares in the company, valued at $14,813,950.40. This trade represents a 26.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bridget E. Engle sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total transaction of $2,613,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 83,478 shares in the company, valued at $7,270,933.80. This trade represents a 26.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 115,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,050,000 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WFC. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $94.00 price target (down from $100.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $109.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.75.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $79.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $245.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $81.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.13. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $68.67 and a twelve month high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $21.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.85 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 17.26%.The firm's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.78%.

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.

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