E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Invests $8.31 Million in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 89,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,313,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 4,185.5% during the fourth quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 7,785 shares during the period. KWB Wealth grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 56.4% during the fourth quarter. KWB Wealth now owns 8,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $810,000 after buying an additional 3,133 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $928,000. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 8,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Community Trust & Investment Co. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 5,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $109.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.82.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In related news, 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 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. The trade was a 26.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bridget E. Engle sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total value of $2,613,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 115,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,050,000 in the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC stock opened at $78.27 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.32. The stock has a market cap of $241.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.08. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $58.42 and a 1 year high of $97.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $21.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.63 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.71%.

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.