Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,107,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,214 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company makes up about 1.6% of Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $218,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% in the fourth 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 bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $70.71 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.03. The stock has a market cap of $230.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.14, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $81.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Compass Point increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.97.

Wells Fargo & 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.