RiverFront Investment Group LLC Makes New Investment in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

RiverFront Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 116,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,927,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% in the second quarter. John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs now owns 7,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 5,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.0% during 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 during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.4% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 5,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WFC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.24.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $55.42 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.79. The firm has a market cap of $193.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $38.38 and a 1-year high of $62.55.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current 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. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. 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.