Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,227,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 753,940 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company makes up approximately 2.5% of Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned 0.40% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $747,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth approximately $160,529,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3,295.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,331,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404,898 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 158.1% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,709,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,069,000 after buying an additional 1,659,716 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 15.2% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,789,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $383,532,000 after buying an additional 897,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 81.6% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,981,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,914,000 after buying an additional 889,953 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.07.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of WFC stock opened at $75.32 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $250.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $44.41 and a 52-week high of $78.13. The business’s fifty day moving average is $65.48 and its 200 day moving average is $60.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 33.26%.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In related news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at $10,421,957. This trade represents a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.