Hartford Investment Management Co. Cuts Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in Wells Fargo by 2.4%, now holding 200,741 shares valued at approximately $14.41 million.
• Wells Fargo's Board of Directors announced a $40 billion share buyback program, indicating confidence in the company's stock value.
• The company also increased its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45 per share, representing a 2.2% dividend yield.

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 200,741 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,004 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $14,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,430,742,000 after purchasing an additional 238,131 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $977,338,000 after purchasing an additional 62,099 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake 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 worth $771,092,000 after purchasing an additional 7,894,919 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE:WFC opened at $80.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $262.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16. The business's 50 day moving average is $78.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.15 and a 52 week high of $84.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. The business's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Phillip Securities cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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.