Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC lessened its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 47.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 49,313 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $399,000. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at $408,000. RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 166.4% in the first quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 5,113 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 212,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,244,000 after purchasing an additional 39,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 651,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,783,000 after purchasing an additional 70,104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WFC shares. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $77.96 on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.22 and a fifty-two week high of $84.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.99.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 30.82%.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.