Arizona State Retirement System Reduces Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Arizona State Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 4.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 945,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 42,842 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $67,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during the fourth 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. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7,887.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $243,589,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350,605 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $2,411,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $198,801,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WFC. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $86.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.13.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC opened at $82.55 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $83.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $76.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.19% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Wells Fargo & Company's 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.

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