Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. lessened its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 492,774 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,235 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $35,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 166.4% during the first quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 5,113 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 651,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,783,000 after purchasing an additional 70,104 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 102.2% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 83,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,837,000 after buying an additional 42,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 30.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,926,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $353,668,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152,181 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $82.55. 12,577,498 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,411,039. The company has a market cap of $268.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $83.95.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.19% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 28.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.98.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.