Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Takes $5.28 Million Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company, purchasing 73,483 shares valued at approximately $5.28 million.
• Wells Fargo reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.54 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, while the company's board authorized a $40 billion share buyback program.
• Analysts have a mixed outlook on Wells Fargo, with , eight hold ratings, and one sell rating, while the average target price for the stock is $80.39.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 73,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,276,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Motco raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 496 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WFC. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE:WFC traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $82.63. 12,475,945 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,737,668. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $84.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $78.14 and a 200 day moving average of $74.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $268.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The company's revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are 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.