Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Has $33.14 Million Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 31.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 471,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 217,329 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $33,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 190,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,369,000 after buying an additional 30,510 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. NatWest Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 172,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,115,000 after purchasing an additional 63,102 shares during the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,656,000. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.34.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $72.44 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $235.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.82 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 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. On average, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.