Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 43.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,603 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,245 shares during the period. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,411,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,855 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,430,742,000 after buying an additional 238,131 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 14,210,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $977,338,000 after purchasing an additional 62,099 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.98.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC traded up $1.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $81.42. 20,947,831 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,300,725. The stock has a market cap of $264.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $50.15 and a 1 year high of $81.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 16.19%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

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

Wells Fargo & 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.