Meritage Portfolio Management Has $9.57 Million Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Meritage Portfolio Management cut its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 136,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,852 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $9,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Income Research & Management bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter valued at about $211,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $79.56 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.06. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $47.45 and a 12-month high of $79.85. The firm has a market cap of $264.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.18. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.84 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Compass Point boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.39.

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.