Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Short Interest Update

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 30,060,000 shares, a decline of 20.2% from the December 15th total of 37,660,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 17,180,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC traded up $3.64 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $74.83. The stock had a trading volume of 10,263,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,059,304. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.15. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $46.12 and a 52 week high of $78.13. The firm has a market cap of $249.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.26%.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 575,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,505,000 after purchasing an additional 11,037 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 37.2% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 638,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,055,000 after buying an additional 173,083 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 17.4% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 177,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,031,000 after buying an additional 26,320 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 132,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,504,000 after buying an additional 18,717 shares during the period. Finally, Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% in the 3rd quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 31,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,780,000 after acquiring an additional 8,107 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WFC. Wolfe Research upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Compass Point upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.92.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.