Bard Financial Services Inc. Sells 3,315 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Bard Financial Services Inc. lessened its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,315 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $5,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spinnaker Trust increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 7,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $972,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crown Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Seven 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.68.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE WFC opened at $75.46 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.15 and a 1-year high of $81.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.70 and a 200-day moving average of $72.97. The company has a market cap of $245.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.