Clayton Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Clayton Partners LLC has decreased its stake in Wells Fargo by 21.2%, now holding 66,150 shares valued at approximately $4.75 million.
• Wells Fargo's latest earnings report showed earnings per share of $1.54, surpassing analysts' expectations, although its revenue slightly missed projections with $20.82 billion.
• The bank announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45, yielding 2.2%, indicating positive financial momentum.

Clayton Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 21.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,150 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,749 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company makes up 4.1% of Clayton Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Clayton Partners LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $4,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter worth approximately $399,000. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.4% during the first quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 758,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $54,471,000 after purchasing an additional 71,740 shares during the period. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter valued at approximately $408,000. RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 166.4% during the first quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 5,113 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz SE increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 22.6% in the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 212,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,244,000 after buying an additional 39,150 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on WFC. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.58.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $82.15. 12,041,152 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,624,371. The firm has a market cap of $263.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $80.31 and a 200 day moving average of $75.02. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.22 and a 12 month high of $84.83.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.82%.

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.