Leuthold Group LLC Purchases Shares of 95,501 Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 95,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,672,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. MQS Management LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 61.1% in the 2nd quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 9,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 3,790 shares in the last quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 46,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,790,000 after buying an additional 4,239 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 261,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,505,000 after purchasing an additional 34,766 shares during the last quarter. Tredje AP fonden increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 1,536,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,248,000 after acquiring an additional 72,000 shares during the period. Finally, Argent Trust Co grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 86,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,111,000 after buying an additional 7,369 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.5 %

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $54.26 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $38.38 and a 12 month high of $62.55. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.89. The stock has a market cap of $189.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14, 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on WFC shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price 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, September 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.29.

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.