CNA Financial Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

CNA Financial Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 7.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 200,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,000 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company makes up about 9.9% of CNA Financial Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. CNA Financial Corp’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $16,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 302,092,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,203,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341,222 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,990,551,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,660,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,989,104,000 after buying an additional 5,584,930 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,009,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,760,994,000 after buying an additional 399,088 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,859,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,496,998,000 after buying an additional 1,223,999 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Wells Fargo & Company

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

• Positive Sentiment: Technically deeply oversold and analyst support could spark a relief bounce — MarketBeat notes WFC is trading well below recent highs, its RSI is in oversold territory, and several outlets/analysts maintain Outperform/Buy ratings and high price targets that imply significant upside if sentiment stabilizes. Bargain Alert: Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs Look Deeply Oversold
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic optionality in digital assets — filings show Wells Fargo has applied for a WFUSD trademark covering stablecoins and blockchain payment services, signaling a possible future new revenue stream (still speculative and regulatory-dependent). Wells Fargo Submits WFUSD Trademark Application
• Neutral Sentiment: Active analyst research flow — Wells Fargo analysts continue to move ratings/targets across sectors (cuts on Aptiv, upgrades in chemicals, positive calls on travel and retail names). This shows robust research activity that can influence trading in other names but is not directly catalytic for WFC’s fundamentals. Wells Fargo Cuts Aptiv Price Target Wells Fargo Upgrades Chemical Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings, revenue and operational concerns remain — MarketBeat highlights that WFC missed revenue/earnings expectations in January, has a relatively high efficiency ratio vs. peers, and saw headline risk from reported exposure to the failed U.K. mortgage finance firm Market Financial Solutions; those issues help explain selling pressure and could limit near-term multiple expansion. Bargain Alert: Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs Look Deeply Oversold

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WFC. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. CICC Research assumed coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $113.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.03.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $74.11 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $58.42 and a twelve month high of $97.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $87.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.50. The company has a market capitalization of $228.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.08.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $21.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.63 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total value of $5,244,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 169,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,813,950.40. This represents a 26.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bridget E. Engle sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total value of $2,613,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 83,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,270,933.80. This trade represents a 26.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 115,000 shares of company stock worth $10,050,000. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.