Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Has $15 Million Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 6.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,912 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,016 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $14,998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 190,330 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,369,000 after acquiring an additional 30,510 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. NatWest Group plc boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 172,484 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,115,000 after acquiring an additional 63,102 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $1,656,000. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,562 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on WFC shares. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $85.00 target price (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.48.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $1.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $76.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,983,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,494,937. The business has a fifty day moving average of $70.32 and a 200 day moving average of $72.95. The company has a market capitalization of $248.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.15 and a 1-year high of $81.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The business 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 company's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

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