State of Michigan Retirement System Reduces Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 945,349 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,500 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $67,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 63.7% in the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 496 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $86.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.98.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of WFC stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $82.55. 12,577,498 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,411,039. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $83.95. The stock's 50 day moving average is $76.24 and its 200-day moving average is $73.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $268.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 16.19%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid 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 1.94%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership 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.