Legal & General Group Plc Has $1.98 Billion Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,197,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 188,186 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,975,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Navalign LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total transaction of $5,244,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 169,496 shares in the company, valued at $14,813,950.40. The trade was a 26.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bridget E. Engle sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total value of $2,613,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 83,478 shares in the company, valued at $7,270,933.80. This represents a 26.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Wells Fargo & Company

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

  • Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo launched Advisor Gateway, a new desktop platform for financial advisors that gives access to more than 200 tools and applications. Investors may see this as a sign the bank is investing in technology and advisor productivity, which could support fee growth and client retention. Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) Launches Advisor Gateway, Here’s What You Need to Know
  • Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to frame WFC as undervalued, with cost cuts and efficiency improvements potentially helping the bank reach its 17%–18% ROTCE target. That supports the case for earnings leverage if management executes well. WFC’s Efficiency Story: Will Cost Cuts Lift ROTCE to Its Target Level?
  • Positive Sentiment: Wall Street reaction to the recent $110 million discrimination settlement has been relatively muted to constructive, with commentary noting a buy-skewed analyst consensus and insider buying. That suggests investors may be looking past the legal overhang. Wall Street’s Verdict on Wells Fargo After the $110 Million Discrimination Settlement
  • Neutral Sentiment: One article on Wells Fargo’s revised price target for Alphabet is only indirectly relevant to WFC and does not appear to be a direct driver of the stock today.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Several repeat items discuss the same Advisor Gateway launch and efficiency/cost-cutting story, reinforcing the same theme rather than adding a new catalyst.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.53.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on WFC

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE WFC opened at $76.52 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.96. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $71.89 and a one year high of $97.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.92 and its 200-day moving average is $85.24.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFCGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.85 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 17.26%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.39 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WFC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFCFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

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