Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Reduces Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG trimmed its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 808,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,427 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company comprises approximately 1.4% of Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $67,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $3,656,000. Three Bridge Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at $364,000. NatWest Group plc increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.6% in the first quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 180,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,952,000 after purchasing an additional 7,934 shares during the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 25.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 238,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,145,000 after buying an additional 48,494 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on WFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.04.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 1.2%

WFC opened at $93.16 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $58.42 and a 1 year high of $95.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $88.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $292.44 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.09.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.18. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The company had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 29.61%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.