Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sentinus LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 4,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 1,174,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,509,000 after buying an additional 20,765 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,992,000. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 470,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,078,000 after buying an additional 79,900 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of WFC stock opened at $76.21 on Friday. 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 $248.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $69.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.49.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The company’s revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 28.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on WFC shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of 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. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of 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 upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Seven 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.73.

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.