Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Dark Forest Capital Management LP

Dark Forest Capital Management LP cut its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 79.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,549 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,932 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $3,365,658,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,430,742,000 after purchasing an additional 238,131 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,105,218,000 after purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $977,338,000 after purchasing an additional 62,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,284,421 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $441,983,000 after purchasing an additional 575,892 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WFC shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Six investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.34.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $1.95 on Friday, hitting $73.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,345,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,544,821. The company has a market capitalization of $240.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.74. 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 has a 1 year low of $50.15 and a 1 year high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.40 dividend. 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 is currently 28.73%.

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

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.