Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 41,421 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,050,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,421 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $75,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. BNP Paribas bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Motco raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $77.58 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $78.98 and a 200-day moving average of $74.93. The company has a market cap of $248.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.20. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.22 and a one year high of $84.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.82%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WFC shares. Raymond James Financial lowered Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.39.

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.