Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Decreases Stake in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC cut its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 454,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,161 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company makes up approximately 1.4% of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $42,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,512,563,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,584,930 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 188,186 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 174,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis Selected Advisers lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 8,258,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $769,649,000 after purchasing an additional 471,979 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Wells Fargo & Company

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several reports said Wall Street remains bullish on Wells Fargo after the CEO offered a strong outlook, with 69% of covering analysts rating the stock a Buy and the average price target implying substantial upside. Street Bullish on Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) After CEO Offered Strong Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America said Wells Fargo shares may be at an attractive entry point, arguing that the stock’s recent pullback looks larger than the deterioration in fundamentals and could appeal to value-focused investors. Wells Fargo shares at attractive entry point amid execution concerns
• Positive Sentiment: Investor interest has also picked up, with Zacks noting WFC has become a trending stock as market participants look for a buy case in the shares. Is Trending Stock Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) a Buy Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo also drew attention for consumer-focused homebuying research and broader financial wellness commentary, but these items are more informational than directly material to near-term earnings. Are You Ready to Buy a Home? Wells Fargo Finds Most Prospective First-Time Buyers Aren’t and Don’t Know It

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on WFC. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. HSBC raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $109.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.53.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 3.6%

NYSE WFC opened at $81.50 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $79.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.72. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $71.93 and a 12 month high of $97.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $249.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.93.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.02. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm had revenue of $11.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.