Sterling Investment Management LLC Has $1.10 Million Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Sterling Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 439 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,411,992,000 after buying an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,430,742,000 after buying an additional 238,131 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,105,218,000 after buying an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $977,338,000 after buying an additional 62,099 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WFC. TD Cowen began coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. 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 report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.68.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:WFC opened at $74.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $81.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $70.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.99.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.