Nelson Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Nelson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 5,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $319,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Slagle Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 138,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,822,000 after purchasing an additional 68,356 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.4% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 35,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 152,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,805,000 after purchasing an additional 21,496 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 41,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,031,000 after acquiring an additional 15,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 28.9% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 473,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,441,000 after buying an additional 106,260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $53.73 on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $38.38 and a 12 month high of $62.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its 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. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The business had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 32.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on WFC shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 note on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.