Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Shares Acquired by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Key Points

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Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 10.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 758,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 71,740 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $54,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WFC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,652,000 after buying an additional 25,436 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 448,224 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,483,000 after buying an additional 44,909 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,718 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 83.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 196,774 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,829,000 after buying an additional 89,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $210,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. TD Cowen started coverage on 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Bank of America lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.58.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $77.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $248.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.93. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $50.22 and a 1 year high of $84.83.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors 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.

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