Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Buys 22,258 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Wells Fargo by 117.1%, owning a total of 41,259 shares valued at approximately $2.93 million.
• Despite strong quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $1.54, Wells Fargo's stock has seen a 1.5% decline, with shares currently trading around $83.03.
• Wells Fargo's board approved a $40 billion stock buyback program, indicating confidence in the company's value and a strategy to enhance shareholder returns.

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 117.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,259 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 22,258 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,652,000 after purchasing an additional 25,436 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,384 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,291 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427 shares in the last quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 163,216 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,464,000 after purchasing an additional 19,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 24,029 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on WFC shares. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded down $0.86 on Wednesday, reaching $81.79. The stock had a trading volume of 15,567,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,313,220. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $50.15 and a 1 year high of $84.83. The company has a market cap of $266.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business's 50 day moving average is $78.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.40%.

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.