PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd Sells 12,371 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd lessened its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 32.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,654 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,371 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company makes up about 2.3% of PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $2,411,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,430,742,000 after purchasing an additional 238,131 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted 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 purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% during 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.33.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE WFC traded up $0.96 during trading on Thursday, reaching $83.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,237,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,353,350. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $75.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.35. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $83.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $271.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.16. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion during 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 firm'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 company posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign 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.