Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 114,943 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 71% compared to the typical daily volume of 67,389 call options.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock traded down $0.50 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $74.88. 20,123,252 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,520,928. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $70.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WFC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,105,218,000 after purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $771,092,000 after purchasing an additional 7,894,919 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7,887.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $243,589,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,411,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,855 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lowered 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. TD Cowen began coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.48.

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.