Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Sells 10,500 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 33.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,500 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $408,000. RKL Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 166.4% in the 1st quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 5,113 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 651,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,783,000 after purchasing an additional 70,104 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter worth $215,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,926,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,668,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152,181 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:WFC traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $79.88. The stock had a trading volume of 4,588,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,589,590. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $83.94. The stock has a market cap of $259.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.67, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.