Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon slightly reduced its Wells Fargo stake by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, but still held 17.76 million shares worth about $1.65 billion at the end of the period.
• Analysts remain cautiously positive on WFC, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a consensus price target of $97.53, even as several firms trimmed their targets recently.
• Wells Fargo reported earnings of $1.60 per share, beating estimates, and continues to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, for an annual yield of about 2.3%.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,757,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 199,138 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.57% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $1,654,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequent Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 6,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,723 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,609,000 after purchasing an additional 7,376 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,644,124 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $339,633,000 after buying an additional 161,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Trust Co now owns 18,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,686,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WFC shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $91.00 to $86.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $94.00 target price (down from $100.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $113.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.53.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $79.43 on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $71.93 and a 1 year high of $97.76. The company has a market cap of $243.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $79.08 and a 200-day moving average of $84.84.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $11.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 27.78%.

Key Headlines Impacting Wells Fargo & Company

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo shares rose as recent market commentary highlighted the stock’s recent strength versus the broader market, reinforcing momentum in the name. Wells Fargo (WFC) Rises Higher Than Market: Key Facts
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also weighing Wells Fargo’s valuation after a recent pullback, which may be drawing value-oriented buyers into the stock. Is Wells Fargo (WFC) Offering Value After Recent Share Price Pullback?
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo is set to present at the Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference next week, which keeps the company in focus and could provide fresh updates on strategy and outlook. Wells Fargo to Present at the Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.

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