Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. decreased its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 14.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 706 shares during the period. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7,887.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,589,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350,605 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,411,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $198,801,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $76.40 on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $81.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $248.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. 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) last announced 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. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 28.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WFC. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.