Vinva Investment Management Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 167,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,506 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $11,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,375,000 after buying an additional 5,237,500 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 158.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,709,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,659,716 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 410.8% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,374,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,567,000 after buying an additional 1,105,679 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 81.6% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,981,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $111,914,000 after buying an additional 889,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 63.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,962,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,832,000 after buying an additional 758,893 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $71.08 on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.19. The company has a market cap of $233.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WFC. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.39.

Wells Fargo & 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.