Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Acquires 13,016 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 208,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,016 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $14,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 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 period. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays cut 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. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.48.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $75.43 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $245.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.26 and a 200-day moving average of $72.94. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year 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.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has approved a stock 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 purchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 28.73%.

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.