Clearbridge Investments LLC Cuts Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 93.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 148,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,030,656 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $8,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $594,000. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 95,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,720,000 after purchasing an additional 2,074 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 equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.41.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 3.6 %

NYSE WFC opened at $56.96 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $55.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $198.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $38.58 and a one year high of $62.55.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.