433,361 Shares in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Purchased by Fred Alger Management LLC

Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 433,361 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $30,439,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 190,330 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,369,000 after purchasing an additional 30,510 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. NatWest Group plc grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 172,484 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,115,000 after buying an additional 63,102 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,656,000. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,562 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $72.44. 11,136,882 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,544,748. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $69.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.17. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $235.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is currently 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 buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WFC shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of 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. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $75.34.

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.