Benjamin Edwards Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 572 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% in the 2nd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $56.26 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $38.38 and a 52 week high of $62.55. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $56.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $196.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.85%.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.