Davis Selected Advisers Decreases Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• Davis Selected Advisers reduced its stake in Wells Fargo by 1.9%, owning approximately 8.47 million shares worth about $607.96 million, making it the 11th largest position in their portfolio.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.45 per share, along with a new stock buyback plan allowing for the repurchase of up to $40 billion in shares.
• Wells Fargo received mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.39, reflecting a variety of opinions on the stock's performance.

Davis Selected Advisers lowered its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,468,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 166,404 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company comprises approximately 3.5% of Davis Selected Advisers' investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Davis Selected Advisers owned 0.26% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $607,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Motco lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on WFC shares. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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 note on Wednesday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:WFC traded up $0.73 on Friday, hitting $77.78. 14,121,735 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,813,622. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.22 and a 52 week high of $84.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.95. The company has a market cap of $249.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors 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 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.40%.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.