Element Capital Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 174,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,363,000. Wells Fargo & Company comprises approximately 0.8% of Element Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $2,623,044,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 103.7% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 3,833,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $189,684,000 after buying an additional 1,951,477 shares during the period. Rokos Capital Management LLP grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 141.6% during the 1st quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 2,620,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,853,000 after buying an additional 1,536,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter worth about $84,819,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Twelve 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC opened at $52.78 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $56.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.91. 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 has a market capitalization of $179.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $38.38 and a 1-year high of $62.55.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The company had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.