Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 238,131 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for approximately 0.3% of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP's holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.61% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $1,430,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 309,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,765,000 after buying an additional 28,931 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 55,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,926,000 after purchasing an additional 7,139 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 22,309 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,567,000 after buying an additional 4,243 shares during the period. Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 205,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,404,000 after acquiring an additional 2,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 115.0% in the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 75,109 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,276,000 after acquiring an additional 40,171 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock traded up $2.25 on Wednesday, reaching $68.48. The stock had a trading volume of 11,443,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,479,107. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $81.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The firm's 50-day moving average is $70.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on WFC. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.34.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.