Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 172,250 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. has increased its holdings in Wells Fargo by acquiring an additional 172,250 shares, raising their total ownership to approximately 7.5 million shares valued at $601.6 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 75.90% of Wells Fargo's stock, indicating strong confidence in the company's performance.
• Wells Fargo reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.66 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a 5.3% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 2.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,508,567 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 172,250 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $601,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WFC. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2,735,254.3% during the second quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 949,769,723 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $76,095,550,000 after acquiring an additional 949,735,001 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $771,092,000 after purchasing an additional 7,894,919 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter worth about $109,643,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,307,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $381,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,365,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,926,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $353,668,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152,181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.57.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $85.90 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $58.42 and a 52-week high of $87.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $275.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $81.71 and a 200-day moving average of $77.44.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.11 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The firm's revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.61%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.