Brandes Investment Partners LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Brandes Investment Partners LP lessened its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 3.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,788,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 93,791 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company comprises about 2.0% of Brandes Investment Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $223,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 25,436 shares during the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 4,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 37.0% during the 1st quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 4,762 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 9,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter worth about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC stock opened at $85.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $58.42 and a 1 year high of $88.64. The company has a market cap of $267.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $84.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.79.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.11 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 17.18%.Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 29.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.57.

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.