Private Advisor Group LLC Purchases 6,549 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 263,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,549 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $15,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 208.0% during the fourth quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 528,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 356,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WFC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Fourteen equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.36.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE WFC traded down $1.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $59.62. 11,436,349 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,654,424. The company has a market capitalization of $207.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.19 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.23%.

Wells Fargo & 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.