Wright Investors Service Inc. Boosts Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 45.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,481 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,084 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Spinnaker Trust raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 7,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,839 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crown Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on WFC shares. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.48.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $74.83. The company had a trading volume of 9,992,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,456,671. The company has a market capitalization of $243.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $50.15 and a 1 year high of $81.50. 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $70.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.94.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The company 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 business posted $1.20 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.73%.

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