Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund reduced its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 22.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 434,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 126,800 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $31,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Motco grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WFC. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Phillip Securities downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $77.96 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.22 and a twelve month high of $84.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $79.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.99. The stock has a market cap of $249.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%. The company had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.82%.

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

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.