Mechanics Bank Trust Department Lowers Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Mechanics Bank Trust Department significantly reduced its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 55.8% during Q2, leaving it with 4,665 shares worth approximately $374,000.
• Wells Fargo reported earnings of $1.54 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.41, along with a slight year-over-year revenue increase of 0.6%.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.45 per share, reflecting a positive trend from its prior dividend of $0.40, with an annualized yield of 2.1%.

Mechanics Bank Trust Department lessened its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 55.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,665 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,888 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2,735,254.3% during the 2nd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 949,769,723 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $76,095,550,000 after acquiring an additional 949,735,001 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $771,092,000 after purchasing an additional 7,894,919 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 7,887.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $243,589,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350,605 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $198,801,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $109,643,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:WFC opened at $85.17 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $272.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.25. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $53.31 and a one year high of $85.28. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%.The company had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is presently 30.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WFC. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.56.

Wells Fargo & Company 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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