BIP Wealth LLC Takes $383,000 Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

BIP Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,450 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $383,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WFC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased 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 worth $1,105,218,000 after buying an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,411,992,000 after buying an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $117,026,000. Finally, North Reef Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 144.3% during the 4th quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 2,125,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $149,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on WFC shares. Raymond James lowered 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 report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.34.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $73.76 on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $69.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.92. The stock has a market cap of $240.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is 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.

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