DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Increases Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 5.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,544,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,333 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $88,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $2,623,044,000. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,308,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,162,000 after acquiring an additional 2,677,050 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,349,595 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 103.7% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 3,833,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $189,684,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,477 shares during the period. Finally, Rokos Capital Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 141.6% in the 1st quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 2,620,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $151,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,152 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WFC shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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 report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.91.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 6.4 %

Wells Fargo & Company stock traded down $3.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $53.26. The stock had a trading volume of 27,642,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,512,784. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $185.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.17. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $38.38 and a 12-month high of $62.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $58.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.81.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

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.