Madison Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 41,587 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,921,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $336,375,000 after buying an additional 5,237,500 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 158.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,709,659 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $153,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,716 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 410.8% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,374,812 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $96,567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,679 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 81.6% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,981,130 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $111,914,000 after purchasing an additional 889,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 63.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,962,302 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $137,832,000 after purchasing an additional 758,893 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.18.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of WFC stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $74.30. 1,397,495 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,416,712. The stock has a market cap of $244.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $76.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.62. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $50.15 and a 1 year high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 29.74%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.