Benjamin Edwards Inc. Cuts Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 18.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,729 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,730 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,283,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WFC shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.34.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC traded down $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $72.44. The company had a trading volume of 11,136,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,532,274. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $69.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.12. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $50.15 and a 1 year high of $81.50. The company has a market capitalization of $235.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.