Westpac Banking Corp Grows Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Westpac Banking Corp boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 168.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 18,896 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Spinnaker Trust increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 7,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Crown Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Jacobsen Capital Management increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 5,420 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Republic Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 5,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WFC shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $75.50.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC traded down $4.76 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $60.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 31,028,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,232,166. The stock has a market cap of $198.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The business's 50-day moving average price is $74.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.44. 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 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $81.50.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.