Short Interest in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Drops By 16.1%

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) saw a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 29,710,000 shares, a decline of 16.1% from the March 15th total of 35,410,000 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 17,410,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.34.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,411,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,430,742,000 after purchasing an additional 238,131 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,105,218,000 after purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $977,338,000 after acquiring an additional 62,099 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 4.8 %

NYSE:WFC traded up $3.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $69.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,004,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,445,363. The company has a market capitalization of $226.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.28.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. Wells Fargo & Company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.