Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Shares Sold by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. sold 1,600,386 shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter, reducing its holdings by 4.7% to approximately 32.3 million shares.
• Wells Fargo recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.45, up from $0.40, representing a yield of 2.3% with a payout ratio of 30.82%.
• As of now, 75.90% of Wells Fargo’s stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds, indicating significant investor confidence in the company.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,302,912 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,600,386 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.99% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $2,319,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in 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 worth $2,411,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,855 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,497,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,471,259,000 after purchasing an additional 128,207 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 7,894,919 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 6.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,953,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $640,616,000 after purchasing an additional 523,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,009,440 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $431,418,000 after purchasing an additional 544,473 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on WFC. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.58.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE WFC traded up $1.2380 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $79.0680. 11,281,046 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,614,554. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.22 and a 12 month high of $84.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $253.29 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.96.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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

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.