Capital International Sarl Acquires 14,136 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Capital International Sarl lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 34.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,136 shares during the quarter. Capital International Sarl’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.0% in the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Fruth Investment Management increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.2% in the first quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 6,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Lazari Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the first quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 10,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 6,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WFC shares. HSBC boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Compass Point restated a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Thirteen research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.31.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE WFC traded up $0.69 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.39. The stock had a trading volume of 12,538,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,276,799. The company has a market capitalization of $210.54 billion, a PE ratio of 12.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.48. 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 has a 12 month low of $38.38 and a 12 month high of $62.55.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 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.