Baldwin Investment Management LLC Acquires New Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Baldwin Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of 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 dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Six equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.34.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 2.7 %

NYSE WFC opened at $73.76 on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.15 and a 52 week high of $81.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $240.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.92.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.82 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 28.73%.

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

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.