Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Invests $8.19 Million in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 114,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,192,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 3,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 8,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 22,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,580,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 6,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Phillip Securities cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $77.60 on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.22 and a 12-month high of $84.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $78.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.97. The firm has a market cap of $252.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%. The business had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.40%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership 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.