Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 30.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,926,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,152,181 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.15% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $353,668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp grew 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 worth $2,411,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,855 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,430,742,000 after purchasing an additional 238,131 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $977,338,000 after acquiring an additional 62,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $0.96 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $83.32. The company had a trading volume of 11,237,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,353,350. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $50.15 and a 1 year high of $83.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $271.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.16. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $74.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.27.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.19% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WFC shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.33.

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.