BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 66.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,083,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 431,767 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $77,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,307,855 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,497,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,471,259,000 after buying an additional 128,207 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $771,092,000 after buying an additional 7,894,919 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,953,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $640,616,000 after buying an additional 523,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,009,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $431,418,000 after buying an additional 544,473 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $79.0680 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $253.29 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.20. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $50.22 and a 1 year high of $84.83.

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

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on WFC shares. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.58.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.