Vise Technologies Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,199 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $4,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WFC. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.73.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $73.32 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $238.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company's revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

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

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