Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its stake in Wells Fargo by 34.5%, now holding 1,187,351 shares valued at $85.24 million.
• Wells Fargo announced a $40 billion share repurchase program, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.45 per share, up from $0.40, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 34.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,187,351 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 625,778 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $85,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 valued at about $28,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Motco grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WFC. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. Dbs Bank upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE WFC traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $77.60. 14,154,500 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,974,708. The stock has a market capitalization of $252.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company's 50 day moving average price is $78.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.97. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.22 and a 12 month high of $84.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy 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.