Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. Has $18.30 Million Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 308,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for about 0.9% of Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $18,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% in the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% in the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of WFC stock opened at $55.80 on Friday. 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 $194.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.46, 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 quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $56.19 and a 200-day moving average of $57.88.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $20.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost 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 2.87%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend 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.