Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys Shares of 1,009,085 Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,009,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $70,999,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,365,658,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,284,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $441,983,000 after acquiring an additional 575,892 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,237,500 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,464,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $389,707,000 after purchasing an additional 352,821 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.9% in the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 3,286,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $230,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150,443 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 7.2 %

WFC stock opened at $60.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $198.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32, 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. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $81.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.44.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays increased 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.50.

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.