B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,768 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,233 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 25,436 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 32,378 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $256,000. Finally, Clarendon Private LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $847,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:WFC traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $74.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,037,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,441,691. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $70.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $81.50. The stock has a market cap of $242.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James cut their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.73.

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.