Norges Bank Purchases New Shares in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 49,807,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,990,551,000. Wells Fargo & Company makes up approximately 0.5% of Norges Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Norges Bank owned 1.55% of Wells Fargo & Company at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. WealthTrust Axiom LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 20.1% in the second quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 5,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth approximately $7,653,000. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 6,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.1% in the second quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 8,469,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $678,598,000 after purchasing an additional 88,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on WFC. Barclays upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 4th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.57.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:WFC opened at $85.61 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $58.42 and a fifty-two week high of $88.64. The company has a market capitalization of $268.75 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.22.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.18. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 17.18%.The firm had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.61%.

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.