Ascent Group LLC Has $2.31 Million Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 9.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 38,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,347 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% in the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% in the 1st quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $55.90 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $194.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.81. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $38.38 and a twelve month high of $62.55. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $20.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 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.