Leavell Investment Management Inc. Purchases 2,200 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 10.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 23,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2,735,254.3% during the 2nd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 949,769,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,095,550,000 after acquiring an additional 949,735,001 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $771,092,000 after purchasing an additional 7,894,919 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter worth $109,643,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,307,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $381,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,365,629 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 30.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,926,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $353,668,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152,181 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC opened at $86.35 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $81.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.72. The company has a market cap of $276.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.25. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $58.42 and a 52-week high of $87.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.11. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 17.18%.The business had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Dbs Bank upgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Friday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.57.

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.