Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Sells 33,283 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI reduced its stake in Wells Fargo by 2.0%, selling 33,283 shares in the first quarter, leaving it with approximately 1.64 million shares valued at $117.48 million.
• Wells Fargo recently declared an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.45 per share, with an annual yield of 2.3%.
• The company's earnings report revealed an EPS of $1.54 for the quarter, exceeding estimates, along with a revenue of $20.82 billion, showing a year-over-year increase of 0.6%.

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lessened its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,636,427 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 33,283 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company makes up 1.0% of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI's holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI owned about 0.05% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $117,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,652,000 after buying an additional 25,436 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 75,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,290,000 after acquiring an additional 2,064 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 449,831 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,615,000 after acquiring an additional 7,959 shares in the last quarter. Lionshead Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $243,000. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,968,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $79.21 on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.22 and a 1-year high of $84.83. The stock's 50-day moving average is $80.52 and its 200 day moving average is $75.01. The company has a market cap of $253.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%.The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is 30.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on WFC shares. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. 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 for the company. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.56.

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.

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.