Compound Planning Inc. Increases Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Compound Planning Inc. has increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 71.0%, now holding approximately $2.48 million worth of shares.
• Wells Fargo's board has authorized a $40 billion stock repurchase program, indicating a belief that its stock is undervalued.
• The company will increase its quarterly dividend to $0.45 per share, up from the previous $0.40, reflecting a positive outlook on its financial performance.

Compound Planning Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 71.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,502 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,326 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 25,436 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 101,463 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,127,000 after acquiring an additional 4,748 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 118,071 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,293,000 after acquiring an additional 39,635 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $1,068,000. Finally, Voya Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 40,077 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,822,000 after purchasing an additional 2,007 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WFC. Raymond James Financial cut Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Phillip Securities cut Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.58.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $1.2380 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $79.0680. 11,281,046 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,475,062. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $50.22 and a 1 year high of $84.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $253.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.20. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $79.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.93.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%.The company's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is presently 30.82%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management 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.