Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 41,752 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 113,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 41,752 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $6,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $2,623,044,000. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,308,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,162,000 after purchasing an additional 2,677,050 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted 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 valued at $339,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,349,595 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 3,833,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $189,684,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rokos Capital Management LLP grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 141.6% during the first quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 2,620,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,152 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on WFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Compass Point reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.91.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $52.30. 18,403,696 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,255,996. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $58.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.02. The company has a market cap of $182.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.76, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.17. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $38.38 and a 12-month high of $62.55.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.