Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Stock Position Boosted by Hancock Whitney Corp

Hancock Whitney Corp raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 776.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 91,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 80,854 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $5,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,349,595 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 103.7% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 3,833,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $189,684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,477 shares during the period. Rokos Capital Management LLP raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 141.6% in the first quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 2,620,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $151,853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,152 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $84,819,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 38.1% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,131,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $297,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,647 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC stock opened at $56.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.89. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $38.38 and a 52 week high of $62.55. The stock has a market cap of $196.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on 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 reduced 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.