Allstate Corp Boosts Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Allstate Corp grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 108.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 245,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 127,532 shares during the quarter. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $22,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Navalign LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 36.9% in the third quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 83,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,270,933.80. The trade was a 26.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total value of $5,244,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 169,496 shares in the company, valued at $14,813,950.40. This trade represents a 26.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on WFC. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $109.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $113.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $91.00 to $86.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.53.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $76.52 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $78.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $71.89 and a fifty-two week high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

Wells Fargo & 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.