Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Invests $56.97 Million in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 811,052 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $56,968,000. Wells Fargo & Company comprises 1.9% of Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased 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 report on Monday, March 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.73.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $0.67 on Friday, hitting $76.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,941,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,698,150. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $50.15 and a 1 year high of $81.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.41. The company has a market capitalization of $248.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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 business earned $1.20 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its board has approved a share 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign 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.