BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments Sells 13,700 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments cut its Wells Fargo stake by 54.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 13,700 shares and leaving it with 11,300 shares valued at about $1.07 million.
• Analysts remain mixed but generally positive on WFC, with the stock carrying a consensus Moderate Buy rating and a $97.53 target price. HSBC upgraded the shares to buy, while several others trimmed their price targets.
• Wells Fargo reported Q1 earnings of $1.60 per share, topping estimates, and recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, equal to a 2.2% annualized yield.

BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments decreased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 54.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,700 shares during the period. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments' holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% in 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. Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 12.9% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 22,904 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,615 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 111.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 14,008 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,122,000 after acquiring an additional 7,368 shares in the last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 3,229 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 51.2% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,718 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,044,000 after acquiring an additional 8,714 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on WFC shares. HSBC upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $94.00 price objective (down from $100.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.53.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE:WFC opened at $81.99 on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $71.93 and a fifty-two week high of $97.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $250.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $79.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.68.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.02. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business had revenue of $11.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.78%.

Wells Fargo & Company News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo’s CFO said the bank expects net interest income to rise this quarter and reaffirmed its full-year target of about $50 billion, which supports the case for stronger core profitability as loan growth improves. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Management also signaled mid-teens growth in its markets business for the second quarter and reiterated its NII guidance, reinforcing investor confidence that Wells Fargo can deliver stable revenue momentum. MSN/Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view WFC favorably, with one Bank of America Securities note reiterating a Buy rating and an unchanged $95 price target, suggesting attractive risk-reward if earnings execution holds. TipRanks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo also highlighted support for community investment, including a $1.2 million grant to Urban Strategies Inc. for economic mobility and entrepreneurship initiatives, which is positive for reputation but likely limited in near-term stock impact. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo presented at the Morgan Stanley US Financials Conference, where investors typically look for updates on strategy and performance, but no major new surprise was highlighted in the headline. Seeking Alpha transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Some recent coverage noted WFC stock underperformed the broader market on Monday, and insider selling headlines may reinforce caution among traders in the short term. MarketWatch article

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.

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