Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Lowers Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,345,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 216,971 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.67% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $1,569,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 8,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Scratch Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $302,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 85,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,018,000 after buying an additional 3,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Auxano Advisors LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 7,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $558,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $76.96 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $253.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

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.