Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Lowers Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co reduced its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 780 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 190,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,369,000 after purchasing an additional 30,510 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. NatWest Group plc boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 57.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,656,000. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 14.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC stock opened at $71.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $69.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.74. 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 firm has a market cap of $234.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $50.15 and a 1 year high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. On average, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.34.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.