Ascent Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC has reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 23.5%, now owning 43,029 shares valued at approximately $3.09 million.
• The recent quarterly earnings report showed Wells Fargo achieving an EPS of $1.54, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.41, with a revenue of $20.82 billion.
• Wells Fargo recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.3%.

Ascent Group LLC lowered its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 23.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,029 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,199 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,497,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,471,259,000 after acquiring an additional 128,207 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $771,092,000 after acquiring an additional 7,894,919 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,953,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $640,616,000 after acquiring an additional 523,107 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,009,440 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $431,418,000 after acquiring an additional 544,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,307,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $381,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,365,629 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $79.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.22 and a 1-year high of $84.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.25. The company's 50-day moving average is $80.52 and its 200 day moving average is $75.01.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. The company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on WFC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.56.

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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