Prudential PLC Trims Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Prudential PLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 103,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,679 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $7,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 441,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 16.3% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,155 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,375,000 after buying an additional 5,237,500 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at $10,451,000. Finally, Voya Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 38,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,128,000 after buying an additional 1,232 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 7.2 %

WFC opened at $60.91 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.44.

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 company had revenue of $20.38 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WFC. Royal Bank of Canada raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.50.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.