Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Brevan Howard Capital Management LP

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP reduced its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 33.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 187,203 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 95,099 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $13,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,105,218,000 after buying an additional 14,210,193 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,411,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $117,026,000. Finally, North Reef Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 144.3% in the fourth quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 2,125,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $149,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,000 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WFC shares. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.34.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $73.29. The stock had a trading volume of 19,946,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,544,615. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $81.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $69.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.01. The company has a market cap of $238.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.73%.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.