ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Acquires 13,014 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 324,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,014 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for 1.1% of ST Germain D J Co. Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $23,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during 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 buying an additional 14,210,193 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7,887.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $243,589,000 after buying an additional 3,350,605 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% in 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. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $198,801,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on WFC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Seven investment 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.48.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $75.43. 29,556,571 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,465,246. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $81.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $70.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.93.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid 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 2.12%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership 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.