Teacher Retirement System of Texas Increases Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Wells Fargo by 14.0% in Q4, buying 148,317 shares to hold 1,208,781 shares worth about $112.66 million.
• In the most recent quarter Wells Fargo reported EPS $1.60 (beat $1.58) but revenue of $21.45B missed expectations of $21.85B; the company pays a $0.45 quarterly dividend (annual $1.80, ~2.2% yield) and analysts' consensus rating is "Moderate Buy" with a $97.75 price target.
• Institutional investors own about 75.90% of the stock with large stake increases from managers like Capital Research, while insiders have sold 115,000 shares (~$10.05M) over the past three months.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,208,781 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 148,317 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $112,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 18.6% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,660,903 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,989,104,000 after acquiring an additional 5,584,930 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth $215,638,000. M&G PLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 320.3% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 2,946,277 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $247,487,000 after acquiring an additional 2,245,307 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth $147,165,000. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth $138,398,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE WFC opened at $80.55 on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $67.43 and a 12 month high of $97.76. The stock has a market cap of $248.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.06. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $81.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.02. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 17.26%.The firm had revenue of $21.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Insider Transactions at Wells Fargo & Company

In related news, EVP Kleber Santos sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.72, for a total transaction of $2,193,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 79,876 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,006,722.72. This trade represents a 23.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bridget E. Engle sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total value of $2,613,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 83,478 shares in the company, valued at $7,270,933.80. This trade represents a 26.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 115,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,050,000. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $113.00 to $108.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $109.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.75.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.

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