Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Reduces Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 625,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,932 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for approximately 1.2% of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $30,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 410.5% during 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 period. United Services Automobile Association raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 97,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,000,000 after purchasing an additional 11,825 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 61.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 121,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,983,000 after purchasing an additional 46,525 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $2,499,000. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2,174.3% during the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 21,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $870,000 after purchasing an additional 20,351 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on WFC. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Compass Point restated a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 target price (up previously from $57.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.99.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.2 %

WFC stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,298,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,706,676. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $57.63 and its 200-day moving average is $50.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $36.40 and a 12 month high of $61.76. The company has a market cap of $212.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.18.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.23%.

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.