Griffith & Werner Inc. Purchases Shares of 33,847 Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Griffith & Werner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 33,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,000. Wells Fargo & Company comprises approximately 1.6% of Griffith & Werner Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Spinnaker Trust raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 7,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,839 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crown Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of WFC stock traded up $1.10 on Tuesday, hitting $73.93. The stock had a trading volume of 11,006,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,465,143. 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 twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $81.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.86. The firm has a market cap of $240.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13.

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

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

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WFC shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded 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. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $75.73.

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.