First Pacific Advisors LP Sells 1,141,202 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

First Pacific Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 30.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,628,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,141,202 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company comprises about 3.0% of First Pacific Advisors LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. First Pacific Advisors LP owned about 0.08% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $188,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,430,742,000 after buying an additional 238,131 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,105,218,000 after buying an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $977,338,000 after buying an additional 62,099 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $84.25. 14,071,803 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,653,194. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.15 and a 52 week high of $84.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $274.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.16. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $77.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.59.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%. The company had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding 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 often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.39.

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.