First Manhattan CO. LLC. Lowers Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. trimmed its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 381,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 29,202 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $27,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $73.29 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $81.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.07. The company has a market capitalization of $238.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 28.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Barclays reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.34.

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.