Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,757,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 199,138 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,654,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WFC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,512,563,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,660,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,989,104,000 after acquiring an additional 5,584,930 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,197,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,975,600,000 after acquiring an additional 188,186 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,128,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $763,675,000 after acquiring an additional 174,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis Selected Advisers lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 8,258,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $769,649,000 after acquiring an additional 471,979 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Wells Fargo & Company

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo shares rose as recent market commentary highlighted the stock’s recent strength versus the broader market, reinforcing momentum in the name. Wells Fargo (WFC) Rises Higher Than Market: Key Facts
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also weighing Wells Fargo’s valuation after a recent pullback, which may be drawing value-oriented buyers into the stock. Is Wells Fargo (WFC) Offering Value After Recent Share Price Pullback?
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo is set to present at the Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference next week, which keeps the company in focus and could provide fresh updates on strategy and outlook. Wells Fargo to Present at the Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $113.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. HSBC raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.53.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $79.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $71.93 and a fifty-two week high of $97.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.84. The firm has a market cap of $243.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.26, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.93.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.02. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 17.26%.The firm had revenue of $11.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.