053. Should You Invest in Wells Fargo Shares?

The current (3/5/2016) stock market price of Wells Fargo is $50.11. Its fair price* can be computed as worth $85.17, using a conservative discount rate of 12%:

Warren Buffett is the largest shareholder of Wells Fargo with 9.5% of share ownership, valued over $25 billion. Is it advisable to follow Buffett's  investments?

Buffett now owns 479 million shares, which would give him a profit to date of over $7.6 billion or an average gain of over 54%.  There is also a potential future gain if Wells Fargo exceeds is fair value of $85, by adding potentially another  $16 billion in profits?  Impressive indeed, but can an investor follow Buffett's example?

CONCLUSION: Buffett has stopped accumulating more Wells Fargo shares. An investor would be well advised not to buy these shares until the accumulation is restarted.

* For determination of "fair prices" of shares see Blog entry 057.