Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Stock Position Increased by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 916,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,104,000 after buying an additional 7,729 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $203,000. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 70,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,473,000 after buying an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target (down previously from $70.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.63.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC traded down $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $56.42. The stock had a trading volume of 3,693,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,002,238. The firm has a market cap of $196.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59, a P/E/G 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 company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.27.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. Analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.85%.

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.