Yacktman Asset Management LP Sells 777,150 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Yacktman Asset Management LP cut its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 42.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,062,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 777,150 shares during the period. Yacktman Asset Management LP’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $74,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,375,000 after buying an additional 5,237,500 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $160,529,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 158.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 410.8% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,374,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,567,000 after buying an additional 1,105,679 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 897,195 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on WFC shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Compass Point raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC opened at $79.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $263.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $73.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.51. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $47.59 and a 1 year high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

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.