River Road Asset Management LLC Sells 16,200 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

River Road Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 693,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,200 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $57,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,512,563,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 37,421,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,487,687,000 after buying an additional 1,760,484 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,197,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,975,600,000 after buying an additional 188,186 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 20,625,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,922,257,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369,260 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 73.0% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 16,463,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,310,663,000 after acquiring an additional 6,944,316 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo declared quarterly cash dividends on six series of preferred stock. The announcement provides clarity for income-focused investors and signals that the bank continues to support its preferred-capital structure. Wells Fargo & Company Declares Cash Dividends on Preferred Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Recent analysis suggests WFC could be about 10% undervalued despite strong gains over the past three months, supporting the view that valuation may still leave room for additional appreciation. Wells Fargo Could Be 10% Undervalued After Preferred Dividend Declaration
• Positive Sentiment: Investors have been rotating from weaker-performing artificial-intelligence stocks into financials, creating a favorable sector backdrop for Wells Fargo and other banks. Risk-On Momentum in Bank Stocks Echoes Aftermath of Dot-Com Bust
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo’s latest earnings exceeded expectations, with $1.96 in earnings per share and $22.62 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 8.6% year over year. Analysts continue to focus on potential net-interest-income growth, asset-cap removal and increased capital returns. WFC Stock Gains 20.5% in 3 Months: Buy, Hold or Sell the Stock Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: The bank is expanding its post-asset-cap strategy through tokenized deposits for corporate clients and new long-term debt and depositary-share offerings. The initiatives could improve payment capabilities and investment capacity, but their financial impact remains uncertain. Is Wells Fargo’s Tokenized Deposit Push Reshaping Its Post-Cap Investment Story?
• Negative Sentiment: After a roughly 20% three-month advance, valuation and profit-taking risks could limit near-term upside, making investors more sensitive to execution on growth and regulatory milestones. Why Is Wells Fargo Up Since Last Earnings Report?

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC opened at $88.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $268.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.92. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $72.78 and a 1-year high of $97.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.86 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.55% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.07%.

Wells Fargo & 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.