Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Grows Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 651,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,989 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $45,766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Six 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.34.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $71.08 on Thursday. 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 $232.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.21, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $69.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.67. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.