Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board decreased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,941,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 296,919 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $276,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 30,510 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.5% during the 4th 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 during the period. NatWest Group plc grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 172,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,115,000 after purchasing an additional 63,102 shares during the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,656,000. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,548 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:WFC opened at $63.98 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $208.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.93. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WFC. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. 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. Citigroup decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Six investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.34.

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.