Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 93.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 148,623 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,030,656 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $8,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% during the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.41.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC traded up $1.98 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $56.96. 14,594,449 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,007,127. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $55.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.76. The firm has a market cap of $198.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $38.58 and a twelve month high of $62.55.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is 32.85%.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

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.