Bard Financial Services Inc. Sells 3,315 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Bard Financial Services Inc. cut its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 72,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,315 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $5,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 7,887.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,589,000 after acquiring an additional 3,350,605 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $198,801,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC stock opened at $75.46 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $70.70 and its 200-day moving average is $72.97. 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 company has a market cap of $245.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share 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 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.