Donaldson Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,105,218,000 after purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7,887.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $243,589,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350,605 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,411,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $198,801,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE WFC traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $73.94. The company had a trading volume of 14,496,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,474,724. The company has a market capitalization of $240.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $81.50.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 28.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on 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. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.68.

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.