Ethic Inc. Increases Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 58.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 54,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,955 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,430,742,000 after acquiring an additional 238,131 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $977,338,000 after purchasing an additional 62,099 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE:WFC opened at $72.44 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 $235.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $69.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. Research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has approved a share buyback 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 a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WFC. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.