Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Raises Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,889 shares during the quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% in 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,497,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,471,259,000 after acquiring an additional 128,207 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $771,092,000 after acquiring an additional 7,894,919 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 6.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,953,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $640,616,000 after acquiring an additional 523,107 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.0% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,009,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $431,418,000 after acquiring an additional 544,473 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WFC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.58.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $77.4680 on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.22 and a 1-year high of $84.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $79.27 and its 200 day moving average is $74.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $248.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%.Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 30.82%.

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.