Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 97,110 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC sold 97,110 shares of Wells Fargo, reducing its stake by 10.5%, and now holds 830,015 shares valued at approximately $59.6 million.
• Multiple large investors, including Northern Trust Corp and Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA, increased their holdings in Wells Fargo during the past quarter, with 75.90% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Wells Fargo increased its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.80 and a yield of 2.2%, with plans for a $40 billion stock repurchase program.

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 10.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 830,015 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 97,110 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $59,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,497,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,471,259,000 after buying an additional 128,207 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $771,092,000 after buying an additional 7,894,919 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 6.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,953,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $640,616,000 after buying an additional 523,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.0% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,009,440 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $431,418,000 after buying an additional 544,473 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. 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. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.58.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC stock opened at $80.19 on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.22 and a one year high of $84.83. The company's fifty day moving average price is $79.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.88. 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 company has a market capitalization of $256.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.82%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WFC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.