Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Position Boosted by National Pension Service

National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,283,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 648,512 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $678,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WFC. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,660,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,989,104,000 after purchasing an additional 5,584,930 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,638,000. M&G PLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 320.3% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 2,946,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,487,000 after buying an additional 2,245,307 shares in the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $173,651,000. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $147,165,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Wells Fargo & Company News

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CEO Charlie Scharf said Wells Fargo expects investment banking and trading revenue to rise by mid-teen percentages in the second quarter, which could support fee income and help offset weakness elsewhere. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: At a Bernstein conference, Wells Fargo highlighted improving momentum in key businesses, reinforcing the case that ongoing operating improvements and a possible easing of regulatory constraints could support the stock over time. Seeking Alpha transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also benefiting indirectly from a broader banking backdrop in which excess cash in funding markets is boosting balance-sheet capacity at large banks, though this is more of an industry tailwind than a Wells Fargo-specific catalyst. Yahoo Finance/Bloomberg article
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo warned that the recent small-cap rally may be masking weakening earnings estimates, low profitability and rising debt, a message that points to a more fragile market backdrop and may weigh on sentiment toward financials. MarketWatch article
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage also noted that WFC shares have been sliding year to date, reflecting investor concerns about the pace of recovery despite long-term support from digital growth, NII improvement and potential regulatory relief. Zacks article

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WFC shares. Robert W. Baird raised Wells Fargo & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $91.00 to $86.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $109.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.53.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE WFC opened at $76.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $79.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.96. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $71.93 and a 1-year high of $97.76. The company has a market capitalization of $234.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $11.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.85 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 17.26%.Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.