Tweedy Browne Co LLC Sells 176,912 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Tweedy Browne Co LLC lessened its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 20.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 677,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 176,912 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company makes up 3.2% of Tweedy Browne Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Tweedy Browne Co LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $47,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,365,658,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,375,000 after purchasing an additional 5,237,500 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $117,026,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $85,031,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings 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 valued at $230,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150,443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $71.85 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.29. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. The company has a market capitalization of $234.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 29.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Compass Point upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.97.

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.