Capital World Investors Sells 380,041 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Capital World Investors trimmed its Wells Fargo stake by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 380,041 shares and ending with 17,862,568 shares valued at about $1.66 billion.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with 75.90% of Wells Fargo stock held by institutions and several other hedge funds recently opening small new positions.
• Analysts are broadly constructive on the stock: Wells Fargo carries an average Moderate Buy rating with a $97.53 price target, while the company also beat quarterly EPS estimates and continues paying a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share.

Capital World Investors cut its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,862,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 380,041 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned 0.57% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $1,664,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Navalign LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WFC shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They set a "buy" rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird raised Wells Fargo & Company from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $109.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $113.00 to $108.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.53.

Wells Fargo & Company News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Wells Fargo after management offered a strong outlook, with coverage showing a majority Buy rating and implied upside to the shares. Street Bullish on Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) After CEO Offered Strong Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo is also part of a planned shared tokenized deposit network led by The Clearing House, suggesting the bank is positioning itself for faster, blockchain-based payments and a new growth avenue. Big Banks Launch Tokenized Deposit Network to Fight Off Stablecoin Threat
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage noting that Wells Fargo is a trending stock points to heightened investor attention, but it does not add new fundamentals by itself. Is Trending Stock Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) a Buy Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo’s role in the tokenized-deposit network was reiterated in separate reports, reinforcing the strategic theme rather than signaling an immediate financial impact. Tokenized Deposits Set Up Banking’s Next Network Race

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $82.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $251.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.93. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $71.93 and a 52-week high of $97.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

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

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.