Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Cuts Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 19.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 357,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 87,284 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $25,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised 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 note on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.98.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $81.42 on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $81.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $74.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 16.19%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

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.