Clearbridge Investments LLC Lowers Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 27.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 39,997 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $7,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 75.5% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 7,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 3,269 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 320.1% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 57,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,246,000 after buying an additional 43,782 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 46.0% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 18,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after buying an additional 5,788 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 441,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1,447.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 689,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,926,000 after purchasing an additional 644,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock traded down $5.39 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $66.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,140,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,093,658. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $81.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.50 and a 200 day moving average of $70.43. The stock has a market cap of $218.34 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFC has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. 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 objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Compass Point boosted 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.55.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.