LGT Group Foundation Boosts Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• LGT Group Foundation significantly increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 721.4% in Q1, owning over 292,000 shares worth approximately $21 million.
• Wells Fargo recently announced a new $40 billion stock repurchase program, indicating that its leadership believes the stock is undervalued.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45 per share, reflecting a positive change in its financial stability, with a dividend yield of 2.3%.

LGT Group Foundation lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 721.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 292,878 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 257,220 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $21,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WFC. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,105,218,000 after buying an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $771,092,000 after buying 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 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $243,589,000 after buying an additional 3,350,605 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake 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 worth $2,411,992,000 after buying an additional 3,307,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $198,801,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $77.58 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $78.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.93. The stock has a market cap of $248.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.22 and a one year high of $84.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 30.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WFC. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America increased their target price 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. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Phillip Securities cut Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.39.

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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