Kovack Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 31,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. DMC Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 19,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Madrona Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter worth $201,000. Norden Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2,030.7% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 561,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,533,000 after purchasing an additional 534,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter valued at about $300,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC stock traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $60.66. 6,698,813 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,808,808. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.30. The firm has a market cap of $211.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.17. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $38.38 and a 1-year high of $62.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.19 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.13 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price target (up from $57.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Compass Point reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Fourteen investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.36.

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.