Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Position Raised by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 75,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,064 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $5,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ethic Inc. grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 58.5% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 54,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,796,000 after buying an additional 19,955 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 4,980,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,812,000 after buying an additional 976,112 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 47,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,344,000 after buying an additional 1,704 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,439,000. Finally, Citizens Business Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WFC. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 research 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 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Six research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.34.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $75.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $69.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $81.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.