Aviance Capital Partners LLC Takes $533,000 Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 9,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $533,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 208.0% in the 4th quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 528,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 356,620 shares during the period. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.1 %

Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $60.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,985,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,435,035. The stock has a market cap of $209.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.40, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.17. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $38.38 and a 52 week high of $62.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.15.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.19 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. Analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Compass Point reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price objective (up previously from $57.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.15.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.