Prudential Financial Inc. Reduces Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 49.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,301,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,225,041 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $161,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WFC shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $72.51 on Monday. 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 has a 1-year low of $50.15 and a 1-year high of $81.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.50. The company has a market capitalization of $238.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Wells Fargo & Company’s 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.