ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Makes New Investment in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. has purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company, acquiring 311,657 shares valued at approximately $22.37 million.
• Wells Fargo recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45, yielding about 2.3% annually, and authorized a $40 billion share repurchase plan.
• Several analysts have increased their price targets for Wells Fargo, with Morgan Stanley raising it from $77 to $87, indicating a generally positive outlook for the stock.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 311,657 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $22,374,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at about $399,000. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter valued at about $408,000. RKL Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 166.4% during the first quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 5,113 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 651,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,783,000 after buying an additional 70,104 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz SE grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 22.6% during the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 212,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,244,000 after buying an additional 39,150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WFC shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of WFC opened at $77.95 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $78.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.95. The company has a market capitalization of $253.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 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 has a 1-year low of $50.22 and a 1-year high of $84.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. Wells Fargo & Company's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 27.40%.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is 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.

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