Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC cut its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 462,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,272 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for 1.3% of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $38,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth about $3,990,551,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 54.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,635,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,332,851,000 after buying an additional 5,894,747 shares during the period. M&G PLC lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 320.3% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 2,946,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,487,000 after buying an additional 2,245,307 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 14,155,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,165,868,000 after buying an additional 2,180,693 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 8,010.7% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,973,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,135,000 after buying an additional 1,949,395 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sharp drop in short interest — Short interest fell ~16.7% in February to ~26.7M shares (about 0.8% of float), lowering potential downward pressure and reducing a short-squeeze risk; shorter days-to-cover (1.7) supports cleaner buy-side momentum.
• Positive Sentiment: Leadership hire for business banking — Wells Fargo named Devine to lead Business Banking, signaling focus on commercial growth and execution that can support loan and fee revenue expansion. Wells Fargo Names Devine to Lead Business Banking
• Positive Sentiment: Broker commentary and price action pickup — Market coverage noting the stock’s intraday strength draws attention and can reinforce momentum among investors. Wells Fargo (WFC) Rises Higher Than Market: Key Facts
• Neutral Sentiment: Full redemption of Series BB preferred stock — WFC will redeem all outstanding Series BB preferred shares in mid-March; this removes a small class of perpetual preferred shares (and related dividends) but uses cash and modestly alters capital structure. Wells Fargo & Company Announces Full Redemption of its Series-BB Preferred Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst activity and thematic calls — Wells Fargo analysts remain active (e.g., on Ticketmaster parent), which keeps the firm visible in research flows but is not a direct WFC fundamental change. Ticketmaster antitrust risks are easing, making its parent company’s stock a buy, says Wells Fargo
• Negative Sentiment: Relative underperformance vs. benchmarks — Coverage points out WFC has lagged the Nasdaq over the past year, a potential concern for momentum investors and a reason some funds may underweight the stock. Is Wells Fargo Stock Underperforming the Nasdaq?
• Negative Sentiment: Peer moves and market-cap ranking — HSBC beating and raising guidance highlights competitive pressure in global banking and briefly pushed HSBC ahead of Wells Fargo by market cap, a reminder of relative performance risks. HSBC reports a beat and a raise as it leapfrogs Wells Fargo by market cap

Insider Transactions at Wells Fargo & Company

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Kleber Santos sold 25,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.72, for a total transaction of $2,193,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 79,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,006,722.72. The trade was a 23.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $102.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $113.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.03.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $86.63 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.37. The stock has a market cap of $271.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.09. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $58.42 and a 12-month high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $21.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.71%.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.