Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Stake Increased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,009,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 399,088 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,760,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 472.4% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Aventus Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $102.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $99.00 to $99.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.03.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kleber Santos sold 25,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,006,722.72. The trade was a 23.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bridget E. Engle sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total transaction of $2,613,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 83,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,270,933.80. This represents a 26.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 115,000 shares of company stock worth $10,050,000. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $78.76 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.66. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $58.42 and a 52 week high of $97.76. The stock has a market cap of $243.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $21.63 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.71%.

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.