Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,086 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,365,658,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,237,500 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $117,026,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $85,031,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.9% during the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 3,286,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $230,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150,443 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $70.71 on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $81.50. 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 $230.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.14.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WFC. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.97.

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.