Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is Brandes Investment Partners LP’s 5th Largest Position

Brandes Investment Partners LP lessened its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 23.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,072,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 951,940 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company comprises 2.4% of Brandes Investment Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned approximately 0.09% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $215,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,284,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,983,000 after purchasing an additional 575,892 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,375,000 after purchasing an additional 5,237,500 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 158.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,709,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,716 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 81.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,981,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,914,000 after purchasing an additional 889,953 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 63.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,962,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,832,000 after purchasing an additional 758,893 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 3.6 %

WFC opened at $70.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $233.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $81.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $75.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.84.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.