Woodline Partners LP Purchases Shares of 199,950 Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Woodline Partners LP purchased 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 purchased 199,950 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $14,044,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC opened at $73.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company's fifty day moving average price is $69.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.69. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.15 and a 1-year high of $81.50. The company has a market cap of $238.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 28.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $75.73.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.