Gradient Investments LLC Has $14.90 Million Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 180,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,744 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $14,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Phillip James Consulting Co. bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:WFC opened at $87.25 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $72.78 and a 52 week high of $97.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $84.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $263.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.92.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.86 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 17.55%.The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 26.16%.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.