Hedges Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Hedges Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 25.5%, selling 6,000 shares and now owning 17,500 shares, which accounts for 1.1% of its portfolio.
• Wells Fargo recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.45 per share, up from $0.40, representing a 2.2% yield.
• The company's stock has shown strong performance, with a 1-year high of $84.83 and a recent EPS of $1.54 for the quarter, exceeding estimates.

Hedges Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 25.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,000 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company makes up about 1.1% of Hedges Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Hedges Asset Management LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,497,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,471,259,000 after purchasing an additional 128,207 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% in 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. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 6.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,953,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $640,616,000 after purchasing an additional 523,107 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.0% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,009,440 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $431,418,000 after purchasing an additional 544,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,307,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $381,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,365,629 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $81.46. 10,497,290 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,889,268. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $80.38 and a 200 day moving average of $75.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $51.75 and a 52-week high of $84.83. The company has a market cap of $260.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 30.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Phillip Securities lowered Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.56.

Wells Fargo & 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.