Credit Agricole S A Sells 51,478 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A recently reduced its stake in Wells Fargo by 13.5%, selling 51,478 shares and retaining 329,048 shares valued at $23.62 million.
• Wells Fargo announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45, representing an annualized yield of 2.3% and a payout ratio of 30.82%.
• Analysts have mixed views on Wells Fargo, with eleven analysts rating it a Buy and seven a Hold, while the consensus price target stands at $81.58.

Credit Agricole S A cut its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 329,048 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 51,478 shares during the quarter. Credit Agricole S A's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $23,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Motco grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at $34,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. 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. Phillip Securities cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.58.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.0%

WFC stock opened at $77.4680 on Wednesday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $79.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.95. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.22 and a one year high of $84.83. The stock has a market cap of $248.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.20.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.82%.

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

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