Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Stock Holdings Increased by Ethic Inc.

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Wells Fargo by 8.5%, now owning 58,629 shares valued at approximately $4.18 million.
• Wells Fargo's Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program, authorizing up to $40 billion in stock repurchases, indicating management believes the stock is undervalued.
• The company reported earnings of $1.54 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a slight year-over-year revenue increase.

Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,581 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $4,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $399,000. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter worth about $408,000. RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 166.4% during the 1st quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 5,113 shares during the period. Allianz SE raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 212,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,244,000 after buying an additional 39,150 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 651,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,783,000 after buying an additional 70,104 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on WFC. Wall Street Zen downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.58.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $77.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $246.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.20. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $79.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.22 and a twelve month high of $84.83.

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

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.82%.

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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