Griffin Asset Management Inc. Has $16.02 Million Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 223,106 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 24,329 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for approximately 2.0% of Griffin Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Griffin Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $16,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 7,887.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $243,589,000 after acquiring an additional 3,350,605 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 valued at $2,411,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $198,801,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WFC. TD Cowen began coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.68.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 2.3%

Wells Fargo & Company stock traded down $1.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $72.31. 21,164,035 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,495,205. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $71.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.93.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 reacquire up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.