Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Boosts Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 894.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 415,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 373,865 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $39,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Navalign LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. KGI Securities lowered Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Two 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.53.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $83.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.56 billion, a PE ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.65. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $72.30 and a 12 month high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.62 billion during 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%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend 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.