Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Trims Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 12.4% during the first quarter, owning 24,535 shares worth approximately $1.76 million after selling 3,476 shares.
• Wells Fargo announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.40 to $0.45, leading to a new annualized dividend of $1.80 and a yield of 2.3%.
• Despite mixed ratings from analysts, the average rating for Wells Fargo stock is a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $80.39.

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. cut its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 12.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,535 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,476 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,761,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $4,652,000 after purchasing an additional 25,436 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,138,814 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $290,710,000 after purchasing an additional 104,136 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 82.2% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,253,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $158,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,648 shares during the period. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $70,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 106,633 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,490,000 after purchasing an additional 3,055 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.5%

WFC stock opened at $77.95 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $253.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.20. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.22 and a 52 week high of $84.83. The company's 50-day moving average price is $78.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The firm's revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

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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