Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund has reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 22.6% in the first quarter, now holding 434,145 shares worth approximately $31.17 million.
• The company reported $1.54 EPS for its most recent quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.41, with a revenue of $20.82 billion, slightly below estimates.
• Wells Fargo has approved a stock repurchase program allowing the buyback of $40 billion in shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 22.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 434,145 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 126,800 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $31,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $399,000. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter worth $408,000. RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 166.4% during the first quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 5,113 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 22.6% during the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 212,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,244,000 after purchasing an additional 39,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 651,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,783,000 after purchasing an additional 70,104 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 2.9%

WFC stock traded down $2.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $77.09. 15,374,441 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,525,808. The business's 50 day moving average price is $79.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.00. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.22 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $246.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business 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 positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WFC shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.39.

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.