Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Shares Sold by Front Street Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Front Street Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 51.2% during the first quarter, selling 4,225 shares and now holding 4,030 shares valued at approximately $289,000.
• Wells Fargo's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, with an Earnings Per Share (EPS) of $1.54 compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41, reflecting a 0.6% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.40 to $0.45, representing an annualized dividend of $1.80 and a yield of 2.3%.

Front Street Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 51.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,225 shares during the quarter. Front Street Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,652,000 after purchasing an additional 25,436 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 5,660 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Fiduciary Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 47,611 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 54,048 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,796,000 after purchasing an additional 19,955 shares during the period. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 75,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,290,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.56.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 3.5%

NYSE WFC opened at $78.98 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.22 and a one year high of $84.83. The company's 50 day moving average price is $80.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.52, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.25.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 30.82%.

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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