Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,497,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 95,577 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $293,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth about $25,000. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 472.4% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.87.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of WFC opened at $90.50 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.90. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $58.42 and a 1 year high of $97.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.08 billion, a PE ratio of 14.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.09.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $11.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.63 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.71%.

Key Headlines Impacting Wells Fargo & Company

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong middle‑market lending / private credit deal flow — Wells Fargo‑linked ventures reported sizable origination totals that support fee income and lending growth. Truist and Evercore lower Wells Fargo (WFC) price targets, stay bullish
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo/Centerbridge direct‑lending venture has originated >$7B and a related Overland partnership financed ~$4B in 2025 — signals growing non‑interest income and diversification into private credit. Wells Fargo and Centerbridge Venture Has Inked $7 Billion in Deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo launched an in‑house proxy‑voting system — may reduce reliance on third‑party advisers and regulatory friction, but the near‑term financial impact is limited. Wells Fargo Launches In-House Voting System To Cut Reliance On Proxy Advisors
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo research is active and visible (e.g., raised Broadcom target, maintained calls on Comcast/Mosaic); useful for fee/flow businesses but not an immediate driver of WFC’s valuation. Wells Fargo Boosts Broadcom (AVGO) Price Target on New Growth Catalysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo analysts flagged a potential slowdown in AI capex in coming quarters — relevant to market tech exposure but an indirect factor for WFC. The $600 billion wave of AI ‘capex’ growth boosting tech stocks will slow down this year or next, analysts warn
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Charlie Scharf’s total pay rose ~28% to $40M for 2025 — a governance/cost signal that can provoke investor pushback despite management saying pay reflects progress on regulatory issues. Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf gets 28% pay boost to $40 million
• Negative Sentiment: Cited broker/analyst moves: some firms trimmed Wells Fargo price targets (Truist, Evercore references), which can cap near‑term upside and weigh on sentiment. Truist and Evercore lower Wells Fargo (WFC) price targets, stay bullish

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.