Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,614,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 683,340 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.13% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $227,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 410.5% in the third quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 67,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,757,000 after buying an additional 54,262 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.7% in the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 97,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,000,000 after buying an additional 11,825 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 61.7% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 121,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,983,000 after buying an additional 46,525 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,499,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 98.8% in the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 60,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,492,000 after buying an additional 30,316 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.91. 18,785,900 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,078,044. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $36.40 and a fifty-two week high of $61.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. The company had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WFC shares. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price target (up from $57.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $54.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.85.

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.