Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 3,465 Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 3,307,855 shares in the last quarter. Theleme Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $187,049,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $117,280,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.73.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WFC traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $74.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,037,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,441,691. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The business's 50 day moving average is $70.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.90. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $81.50. The firm has a market cap of $242.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.