Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Shares Bought by Swedbank AB

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Wells Fargo by 27.8% in Q4, buying 261,962 shares to hold 1,203,854 shares valued at about $112.2 million.
• Insiders have been sellers: company executives sold roughly 115,000 shares (about $10.05 million) over the last 90 days, including EVP Ellen Patterson (60,000 shares) and EVP Kleber Santos (25,000 shares), materially reducing their positions.
• Wall Street consensus is a “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $97.53 and several firms trimming price targets recently; Wells Fargo also pays a $0.45 quarterly dividend (2.2% yield).

Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 27.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,203,854 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 261,962 shares during the period. Swedbank AB's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $112,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,514 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,048 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Group LTD raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 36.9% in the third quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 438 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.6% in the third quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 3,436 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.7% in the third quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 4,511 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective 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. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.53.

Insider Transactions at Wells Fargo & Company

In related news, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total value of $5,244,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 169,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,813,950.40. This represents a 26.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kleber Santos sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.72, for a total value of $2,193,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 79,876 shares in the company, valued at $7,006,722.72. This represents a 23.84% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 115,000 shares of company stock worth $10,050,000. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Wells Fargo & Company

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo Advisors recruited multiple advisor teams representing more than $9 billion in client assets in under a week — a clear win for AUM and fee-income growth if retention and client migration remain strong. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: The AGT Private Wealth Group — a $1.6 billion UBS team — joined Wells Fargo Advisors in Frisco, Texas, adding scale in a key market and reinforcing the recent recruiting momentum. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets note rising investor attention on WFC, highlighting analyst coverage and interest but not changing earnings estimates materially — useful for sentiment but not an earnings surprise. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo strategists flagged the first market “sell signal” since 2021, urging caution on factors that had driven markets higher — a macro cautionary note that could weigh on bank multiples if risk-off sentiment spreads. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro headlines (e.g., U.K. political/energy risks and disappointing results at peers like HSBC) are elevating bond yields and regional bank risk perceptions — an indirect headwind for bank stocks generally. Read More. • Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Company insiders sold roughly US$10 million of WFC stock over the past year, a signal some investors interpret as management or insider concern about near-term upside. Read More.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $80.39 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.14. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $71.89 and a 12-month high of $97.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $246.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.96.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.02. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm had revenue of $11.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.78%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.