National Pension Service Acquires 13,589 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.2%, acquiring an additional 13,589 shares for a total of approximately 6.4 million shares, valued at around $460 million.
• Wells Fargo recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.45 per share, representing a yield of 2.3%, and initiated a stock buyback program allowing for the repurchase of up to $40 billion in shares.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Wells Fargo's stock, with a recent average target price of $80.39, including eleven buy ratings, eight hold ratings, and one sell rating.

National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,409,073 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,589 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.20% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $460,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $771,092,000 after buying an additional 7,894,919 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 7,887.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $243,589,000 after buying an additional 3,350,605 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% in 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 buying an additional 3,307,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $198,801,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC stock traded down $1.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $77.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,409,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,622,731. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $79.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.99. 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 1 year low of $50.22 and a 1 year high of $84.83. The stock has a market cap of $249.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $20.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Phillip Securities lowered Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Dbs Bank raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.