Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 16.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 141,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,851 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $8,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs now owns 7,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.3% during the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 5,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 5,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $52.78 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $38.38 and a 52 week high of $62.55. The stock has a market cap of $179.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio 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.