Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Two Sigma Investments LP

Two Sigma Investments LP reduced its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 98.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,459 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,489,985 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 valued at $2,411,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,855 shares in the last quarter. Theleme Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $187,049,000. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $117,026,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.73.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $74.62. 17,037,870 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,473,472. The stock's fifty day moving average is $70.07 and its 200 day moving average is $72.90. The stock has a market cap of $242.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.