Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Stake Raised by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 43.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,021 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $950,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,430,742,000 after purchasing an additional 238,131 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,105,218,000 after purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in 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 worth $977,338,000 after acquiring an additional 62,099 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Phillip Securities cut Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $80.64. 21,202,185 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,458,807. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.16. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $77.14 and a 200-day moving average of $74.18. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $83.95.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.40%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board 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.