Duquesne Family Office LLC Takes $11.04 Million Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Duquesne Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 157,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,035,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 190,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,369,000 after buying an additional 30,510 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. NatWest Group plc lifted 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. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,656,000. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. 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 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 note on Thursday, April 3rd. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.34.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $73.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.66, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.00.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually 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.