GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Acquires New Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 6,055 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $425,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 14,210,193 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,411,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,855 shares during the last quarter. Theleme Partners LLP bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $187,049,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $117,280,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WFC shares. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of 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, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.73.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of WFC stock traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.73. 8,698,413 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,454,881. The stock has a market cap of $239.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13. The stock's fifty day moving average is $70.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.87. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.