Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 16,155 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,186,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,155 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $85,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $221,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,652,000 after buying an additional 25,436 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,262,000. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 15,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $311,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WFC. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.48.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $76.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $248.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s fifty day moving average is $70.50 and its 200 day moving average is $72.96. 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 has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.