AQR Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 21.2%, now holding 1,189,584 shares worth approximately $83.4 million.
• Wells Fargo recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.80 and a yield of 2.3%.
• Wells Fargo's shares opened at $78.98 and reported earnings of $1.54 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.41, while its revenue was close to projections at $20.82 billion.

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 21.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,189,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 320,608 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $83,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WFC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 25,436 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $834,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 5,660 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 47,611 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares during the period. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 4,980,243 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $349,812,000 after purchasing an additional 976,112 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on WFC. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.56.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of WFC stock opened at $78.98 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.22 and a 1-year high of $84.83. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $80.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $253.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.25.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.82%.

Wells Fargo & 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.

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