Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,789,216 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 648,720 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.61% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $1,420,668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,105,218,000 after purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7,887.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $243,589,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350,605 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% in the 4th 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 purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $198,801,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WFC shares. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.33.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC stock traded up $0.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $83.32. The stock had a trading volume of 11,237,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,377,113. 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 has a twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $83.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $271.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.16. The company's 50-day moving average price is $75.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.44.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 16.19%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

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

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are 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.