Ballentine Partners LLC Purchases 1,835 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,835 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. West Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 104.0% in the first quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 2,059 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at approximately $329,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 8.0% in the first quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 11,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $661,000 after buying an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 97.7% in the first quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 14,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 6,955 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE:WFC traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $58.44. The stock had a trading volume of 521,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,199,117. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $38.38 and a 12 month high of $62.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.74.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. The company had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 29.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $61.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. HSBC raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.99.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.