Janus Henderson Group PLC Acquires 7,959 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 449,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,959 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $31,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $66,247,000. Geller Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $235,000. Gen Wealth Partners Inc boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 241.4% during the fourth quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 75,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,290,000 after buying an additional 2,064 shares during the period. Finally, Ethic Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 58.5% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 54,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,796,000 after buying an additional 19,955 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WFC. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report 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 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to 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

NYSE:WFC opened at $76.17 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $69.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

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.