Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Sells 2,364,299 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 31.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,085,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,364,299 shares during the quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $357,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 190,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,369,000 after acquiring an additional 30,510 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. NatWest Group plc lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 172,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,115,000 after purchasing an additional 63,102 shares during the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,656,000. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of WFC stock opened at $73.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $238.60 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $69.97 and its 200 day moving average is $72.76. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 28.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of several research reports. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.73.

Wells Fargo & 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.