Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Buys New Shares in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,666,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $117,026,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 0.05% of Wells Fargo & Company at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth $29,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $72.33 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $236.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.97 and a 200-day moving average of $69.80. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.15 and a 1-year high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share 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 quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WFC. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on 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. 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 report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.18.

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.