Woodline Partners LP Has $19.95 Million Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Woodline Partners LP grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 39.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 277,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 77,913 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $19,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 84,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,096,000 after buying an additional 2,583 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 238,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,145,000 after purchasing an additional 48,494 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $326,000. RNC Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 32.6% during the 1st quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 58,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,232,000 after purchasing an additional 14,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 69.4% during the 1st quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 41,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,947,000 after purchasing an additional 16,817 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.6%

WFC opened at $80.29 on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.22 and a fifty-two week high of $84.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $80.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.09.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 30.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of several research reports. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.56.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.