Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $2.51 Million Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 61.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 26,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 42,140 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 18.6% during 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 period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,009,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,760,994,000 after acquiring an additional 399,088 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% during 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 period. 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 valued at $769,649,000 after acquiring an additional 471,979 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 6,726,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $563,781,000 after acquiring an additional 529,305 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Wells Fargo & Company

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo launched Advisor Gateway, a new desktop platform for financial advisors that gives access to more than 200 tools and applications. Investors may see this as a sign the bank is investing in technology and advisor productivity, which could support fee growth and client retention. Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) Launches Advisor Gateway, Here’s What You Need to Know
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to frame WFC as undervalued, with cost cuts and efficiency improvements potentially helping the bank reach its 17%–18% ROTCE target. That supports the case for earnings leverage if management executes well. WFC’s Efficiency Story: Will Cost Cuts Lift ROTCE to Its Target Level?
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street reaction to the recent $110 million discrimination settlement has been relatively muted to constructive, with commentary noting a buy-skewed analyst consensus and insider buying. That suggests investors may be looking past the legal overhang. Wall Street’s Verdict on Wells Fargo After the $110 Million Discrimination Settlement
• Neutral Sentiment: One article on Wells Fargo’s revised price target for Alphabet is only indirectly relevant to WFC and does not appear to be a direct driver of the stock today.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several repeat items discuss the same Advisor Gateway launch and efficiency/cost-cutting story, reinforcing the same theme rather than adding a new catalyst.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total value of $5,244,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 169,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,813,950.40. This represents a 26.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bridget E. Engle sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total value of $2,613,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 83,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,270,933.80. The trade was a 26.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $109.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $91.00 to $86.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.53.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $76.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $234.15 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.96. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $71.89 and a 12 month high of $97.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.25.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.85 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 17.26%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend 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.