Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 274,886 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,229,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 274,886 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company makes up about 0.6% of Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $156,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First National Bank of Hutchinson acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $423,000. Strategic Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,539,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,150,000 after purchasing an additional 5,938 shares during the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Algebris UK Ltd now owns 128,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,697,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,205,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE WFC opened at $72.79 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $239.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.22. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released 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. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WFC. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upped 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. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Compass Point boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.39.

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.