Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Acquires 7,894,919 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 277.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,894,919 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.33% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $771,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 496 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on 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. Raymond James Financial downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.3%

Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $79.90. The stock had a trading volume of 30,555,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,438,743. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $83.95. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $76.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 16.19%. Wells Fargo & Company's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.