Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Position Lowered by Poplar Forest Capital LLC

Poplar Forest Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 531,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 287,660 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for 3.8% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $26,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on WFC shares. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $54.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.85.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of WFC traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,723,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,057,547. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $36.40 and a 1 year high of $61.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $214.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.61 and a 200 day moving average of $49.34.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. The firm had revenue of $20.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.