Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is Brandes Investment Partners LP’s 2nd Largest Position

Brandes Investment Partners LP cut its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,903,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 547,931 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company comprises 2.8% of Brandes Investment Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned about 0.11% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $231,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 26,319,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,295,459,000 after buying an additional 263,176 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,848,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,178,591,000 after acquiring an additional 831,975 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,226,000 after acquiring an additional 2,349,595 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% in the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 5,278,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,500,000 after acquiring an additional 108,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 38.1% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,131,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $297,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,647 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:WFC opened at $55.90 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.81. The stock has a market cap of $194.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $38.38 and a twelve month high of $62.55.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.29.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.