Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 15,664 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lowered its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 778,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,664 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $55,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WFC. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.48.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $76.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.97. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $81.50.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.