Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 18,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.7 %

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $78.41 on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $47.45 and a twelve month high of $78.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.38. The firm has a market cap of $261.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WFC. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.39.

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.