Vista Investment Management Decreases Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Vista Investment Management decreased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,559 shares during the quarter. Vista Investment Management’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Seven 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.73.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $76.05 on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.48 billion, a PE ratio of 14.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & 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.