Main Street Research LLC Buys 18,703 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Main Street Research LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 101.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,703 shares during the quarter. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,652,000 after buying an additional 25,436 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at about $3,436,000. ABN Amro Investment Solutions purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at about $1,901,000. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.1% in the second quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC now owns 41,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,295,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 82.0% in the second quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 2,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Wells Fargo & Company News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Technically deeply oversold and analyst support could spark a relief bounce — MarketBeat notes WFC is trading well below recent highs, its RSI is in oversold territory, and several outlets/analysts maintain Outperform/Buy ratings and high price targets that imply significant upside if sentiment stabilizes. Bargain Alert: Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs Look Deeply Oversold
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic optionality in digital assets — filings show Wells Fargo has applied for a WFUSD trademark covering stablecoins and blockchain payment services, signaling a possible future new revenue stream (still speculative and regulatory-dependent). Wells Fargo Submits WFUSD Trademark Application
• Neutral Sentiment: Active analyst research flow — Wells Fargo analysts continue to move ratings/targets across sectors (cuts on Aptiv, upgrades in chemicals, positive calls on travel and retail names). This shows robust research activity that can influence trading in other names but is not directly catalytic for WFC’s fundamentals. Wells Fargo Cuts Aptiv Price Target Wells Fargo Upgrades Chemical Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings, revenue and operational concerns remain — MarketBeat highlights that WFC missed revenue/earnings expectations in January, has a relatively high efficiency ratio vs. peers, and saw headline risk from reported exposure to the failed U.K. mortgage finance firm Market Financial Solutions; those issues help explain selling pressure and could limit near-term multiple expansion. Bargain Alert: Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs Look Deeply Oversold

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of WFC stock opened at $74.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $228.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.08. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $58.42 and a 1 year high of $97.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $21.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.63 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.27%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. Research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 28.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $99.00 to $99.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $96.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wells Fargo & Company

In other news, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total transaction of $5,244,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 169,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,813,950.40. This represents a 26.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kleber Santos sold 25,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 79,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,006,722.72. The trade was a 23.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 115,000 shares of company stock worth $10,050,000 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.