Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Sells 689,478 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 70.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 291,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 689,478 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $20,496,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Spinnaker Trust boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 7,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.4% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Crown Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $75.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $245.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.15 and a 1-year high of $81.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $69.88 and its 200 day moving average is $72.69.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on WFC shares. 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 note on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America lowered their price target 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. TD Cowen started coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.73.

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.