ASL Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

ASL Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $580,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WFC. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 472.4% in the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $80.75 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $58.42 and a one year high of $97.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.17 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.06.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $21.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.63 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.27%.Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 28.71%.

Trending Headlines about Wells Fargo & Company

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

• Positive Sentiment: HSBC upgraded WFC to a “Buy,” giving the stock direct analyst support that can attract inflows and counterbalance negative headlines. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo research continues to move markets — the firm trimmed price targets on Fiserv and Meta and initiated coverage on other names, signaling active trading/research revenue but also a cautious view on sector valuations. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target on Meta ahead of earnings — a signal of near-term caution from its equities desk rather than a direct impact on WFC fundamentals. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks flagged heightened investor attention on WFC, which can amplify price moves as traders react to news and analyst notes. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo’s coverage expansion (example: initiating coverage on CACI) underscores its investment-banking/research activity, which is a modest positive for fee-related revenue but not an immediate driver of WFC share moves. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Charlie Scharf warned simply “Reasons to worry” about the economy, injecting executive-level caution that can pressure bank shares sensitive to macro and credit-cycle concerns. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo’s markets head (Kwon) warned of continued volatility and an unfavorable backdrop over coming months, a comment that highlights downside risk to trading and capital markets revenue. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley cut its price target on WFC to $100, a formal analyst downgrade that can cap upside and influence investor sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Broader macro stress from the ongoing Middle East conflict continues to sap risk appetite, lift oil and bond volatility, and raise recession/loan-loss fears that typically weigh on bank equities. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WFC shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Freedom Capital cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Argus raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.13.

Insider Transactions at Wells Fargo & Company

In other news, EVP Bridget E. Engle sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total transaction of $2,613,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 83,478 shares in the company, valued at $7,270,933.80. This represents a 26.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total value of $5,244,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 169,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,813,950.40. The trade was a 26.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 115,000 shares of company stock worth $10,050,000 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & 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.