Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Purchases New Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 768,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $53,976,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,411,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,430,742,000 after purchasing an additional 238,131 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,105,218,000 after purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $977,338,000 after purchasing an additional 62,099 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $73.76 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $69.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.87. 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 $240.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.34.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.