Vontobel Holding Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 64.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 75,921 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 29,870 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $5,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7,887.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $243,589,000 after buying an additional 3,350,605 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,307,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $198,801,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC traded up $0.96 during trading on Friday, reaching $83.32. 11,237,287 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,353,350. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.07 and a 200-day moving average of $73.35. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $83.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $271.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

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 12.15% and a net margin of 16.19%. 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. Analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is 28.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WFC shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of 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. 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 objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $85.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.33.

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.