Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Sells 689,478 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 70.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 291,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 689,478 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $20,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 190,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,369,000 after purchasing an additional 30,510 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. NatWest Group plc raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 57.7% during the fourth quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 172,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,115,000 after acquiring an additional 63,102 shares in the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $1,656,000. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $75.42 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.69. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $81.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $245.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Barclays reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.73.

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.