Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Harbor Island Capital LLC

Key Points

• Harbor Island Capital LLC reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.6%, now owning 275,593 shares valued at approximately $19.79 million.
• The company reported an EPS of $1.54 for the recent quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 0.6%.
• Wells Fargo recently initiated a $40 billion share repurchase plan, indicating that its board believes the stock may be undervalued.

Harbor Island Capital LLC decreased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 275,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,371 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company comprises approximately 9.8% of Harbor Island Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Harbor Island Capital LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $19,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 14,210,193 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $771,092,000 after buying an additional 7,894,919 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7,887.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $243,589,000 after buying an additional 3,350,605 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,307,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $198,801,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $77.02. 13,105,579 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,875,784. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.22 and a 1-year 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $78.86 and a 200-day moving average of $74.97. The stock has a market cap of $246.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.20.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are 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.