Toronto Dominion Bank Decreases Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Toronto Dominion Bank trimmed its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,218,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 29,125 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $85,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,411,992,000 after buying an additional 3,307,855 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,430,742,000 after buying an additional 238,131 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,105,218,000 after buying an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $977,338,000 after buying an additional 62,099 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:WFC opened at $76.21 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $81.50. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.54. The firm has a market cap of $248.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced 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 company had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 reacquire up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WFC. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Seven investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.73.

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.