Woodline Partners LP Takes $14.04 Million Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 199,950 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $14,044,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on WFC. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen began coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "hold" rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.73.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE WFC traded up $0.57 on Tuesday, hitting $73.40. 3,462,324 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,316,100. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.01 and a 200 day moving average of $72.86. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $81.50. The company has a market capitalization of $238.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.73%.

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

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.