Marathon Asset Management Ltd Reduces Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Marathon Asset Management Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 9.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 151,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 16,120 shares during the quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $10,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,839 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $972,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 22,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,580,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 7,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 6,099 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE WFC traded up $1.30 on Tuesday, hitting $81.42. 20,939,381 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,300,628. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $81.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.15.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.19% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on WFC. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.98.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.