Abacus Planning Group Inc. Acquires 640 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 14.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs now owns 7,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. McAdam LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.3% in the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 5,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 5,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.41.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $54.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $191.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.29, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $55.43 and its 200 day moving average is $57.76. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $38.38 and a 12-month high of $62.55. 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 (NYSE:WFC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

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.