SouthState Corp Decreases Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

SouthState Corp lowered its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 8.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 832 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $2,623,044,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 26,319,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,295,459,000 after acquiring an additional 263,176 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 25,218,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,241,231,000 after acquiring an additional 781,772 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,941,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $932,352,000 after acquiring an additional 596,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,905,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,690,000 after purchasing an additional 25,896 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $56.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.68, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.17. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $38.38 and a twelve month high of $62.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.87.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WFC. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 target price (down from $70.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Twelve 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.41.

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.