Hedges Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Hedges Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company comprises 1.1% of Hedges Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Hedges Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 585.5% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Motco boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Nova Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 112.9% in the second quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, 1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at $31,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Phillip Securities cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.56.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.3%

WFC opened at $81.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $260.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $80.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $51.75 and a 12-month high of $84.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.82%.

Wells Fargo & 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.