Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Raises Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1,090.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 381,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 349,251 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $26,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth about $34,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WFC shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.8 %

WFC stock opened at $80.76 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $268.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.18. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $47.47 and a 1-year high of $81.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $73.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.74%.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.