Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,493 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $466,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% in the 4th 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% in the 4th 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 during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in 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 buying an additional 14,210,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $977,338,000 after buying an additional 62,099 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WFC. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. 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 target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, June 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.98.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.8%

WFC stock opened at $75.33 on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.15 and a 1-year high of $81.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.86. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $245.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 16.19%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.

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