Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 456,235 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 32,190 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $32,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 3.2 %

Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $2.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $74.12. The stock had a trading volume of 11,910,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,512,456. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $69.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.74. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $81.50. The stock has a market cap of $242.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. Research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WFC. Barclays cut their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Six equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.