Guardian Wealth Management Inc. Trims Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Guardian Wealth Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 370 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 93.3% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 26,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 12,778 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 15,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 290,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,302,000 after purchasing an additional 8,673 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $52.78 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $38.38 and a 1-year high of $62.55. The company has a market capitalization of $179.65 billion, a PE ratio of 10.84, 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 current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.60 and a 200-day moving average of $57.89.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. The business 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 for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 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.