Vontobel Holding Ltd. Acquires 29,870 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 64.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,870 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $5,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 23,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,682,000 after purchasing an additional 2,680 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 56.3% in the 1st quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 17,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 6,200 shares during the period. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 43.5% in the 1st quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 20,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 6,245 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $109,000. Finally, CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $18,018,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.1%

WFC stock opened at $82.37 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.27. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $82.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $268.05 billion, a PE ratio of 14.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its 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. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.19% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WFC shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.33.

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.