S&CO Inc. Sells 8,855 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• S&CO Inc. has decreased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 16.5%, owning 44,803 shares valued at approximately $3.2 million after selling 8,855 shares in the first quarter.
• Wells Fargo announced a $40 billion share buyback plan, indicating confidence from its leadership in the stock's valuation.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $80.39 for Wells Fargo, with ratings ranging from sell to moderate buy, reflecting a mixed outlook on the stock's potential performance.

S&CO Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,803 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,855 shares during the quarter. S&CO Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $2,411,992,000 after buying an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,430,742,000 after purchasing an additional 238,131 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 62,099 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,894,919 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note 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. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded down $0.45 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.63. The stock had a trading volume of 12,475,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,737,668. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.78. The company has a market capitalization of $268.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.16. 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 $50.15 and a 1 year high of $84.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $20.82 billion during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.40%.

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.