Public Sector Pension Investment Board Sells 591,487 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board reduced its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 24.8%, selling 591,487 shares, which now account for 0.6% of its investment portfolio.
• Wells Fargo recently announced a dividend increase from $0.40 to $0.45 per share, reflecting a 2.3% yield and a payout ratio of 30.82%.
• The company has initiated a $40 billion share buyback program, suggesting that its board believes the stock is undervalued.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lowered its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 24.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,789,428 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 591,487 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company makes up 0.6% of Public Sector Pension Investment Board's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.05% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $128,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.9% in the first quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 14,618 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,049,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 11.7% in the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 70,639 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,071,000 after buying an additional 7,396 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter worth approximately $1,104,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 108.4% in the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,976 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 9,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maia Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 6.7% in the first quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 7,665 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of WFC stock opened at $77.78 on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.22 and a 12 month high of $84.83. The stock has a market cap of $249.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.20. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.93.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The business had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.

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