Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Decreases Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. decreased its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 31.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 471,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 217,329 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $33,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Spinnaker Trust increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 7,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Crown Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 22,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,580,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.34.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 1.2%

WFC stock opened at $72.44 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $81.50. The firm has a market cap of $235.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.