BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Acquires 195,134 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 1,465.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 195,134 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $14,642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,105,218,000 after acquiring an additional 14,210,193 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $117,026,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,031,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.9% during the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 3,286,809 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $230,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150,443 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WFC traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $69.57. 7,587,243 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,686,895. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.26. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $81.50. The stock has a market cap of $227.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. 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 (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The business's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WFC. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.34.

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.