Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,461 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 5.0 %

NYSE:WFC opened at $73.21 on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $81.50. The company has a market cap of $240.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.24. 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 (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. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.39.

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.