IFM Investors Pty Ltd Sells 17,635 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd has reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.8%, selling 17,635 shares to hold a total of 618,698 shares valued at approximately $44.4 million.
• Wells Fargo's latest quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, with earnings per share of $1.54, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41, while revenue was slightly below expectations at $20.82 billion.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45 per share, representing a yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 30.82%.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd cut its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 618,698 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,635 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for about 0.5% of IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $44,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised 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 acquiring an additional 7,894,919 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake 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 worth $243,589,000 after acquiring an additional 3,350,605 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $198,801,000. Theleme Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $187,049,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $117,280,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on WFC. Dbs Bank raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.56.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:WFC opened at $80.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $258.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.25. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $80.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.05. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.22 and a twelve month high of $84.83. 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 (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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. 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.

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