CENTRAL TRUST Co Cuts Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,438 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,411,992,000 after buying an additional 3,307,855 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,430,742,000 after buying an additional 238,131 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $977,338,000 after buying an additional 62,099 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $72.51 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $71.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $81.50. The firm has a market cap of $235.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 16.19%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 28.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised 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 note on Thursday, March 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.68.

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.