Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Stake Lessened by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,859,623 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 201,205 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company makes up approximately 0.5% of New York State Teachers Retirement System's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.09% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $205,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,839 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 22,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,580,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 7,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 6,099 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $79.42 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $73.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $81.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.19% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is presently 28.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.98.

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.

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