Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 12.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 485,789 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 71,721 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $34,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,411,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,430,742,000 after purchasing an additional 238,131 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,105,218,000 after purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $977,338,000 after purchasing an additional 62,099 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WFC. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $85.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.48.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of WFC opened at $76.38 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $70.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.15 and a 1-year high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is 28.73%.

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

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.

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