EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 51,234 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 40.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 179,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,234 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $10,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $638,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Evoke Wealth LLC increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 978.9% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 135,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,645,000 after purchasing an additional 122,490 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $594,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $236,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $55.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $194.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.81. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $38.38 and a fifty-two week high of $62.55.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Twelve equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.29.

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.