Dodge & Cox Reduces Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Dodge & Cox cut its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 19.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,452,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,496,760 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for approximately 2.9% of Dodge & Cox’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Dodge & Cox owned approximately 2.12% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $4,948,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WFC. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $63.17 on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.15 and a 1-year high of $81.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.02.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on WFC shares. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.88.

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.