Ritholtz Wealth Management Grows Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,752 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $2,623,044,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,226,000 after buying an additional 2,349,595 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 103.7% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 3,833,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $189,684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,477 shares in the last quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 141.6% in the 1st quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 2,620,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $151,853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $84,819,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WFC shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (down previously from $70.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.63.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $58.47 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $57.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.78. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $38.38 and a 52-week high of $62.55. The company has a market cap of $203.84 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.17.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 32.85%.

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.