129,775 Shares in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Bought by Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 129,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,725,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Commerce Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,549,000. CFO4Life Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter worth $670,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $17,429,000. Fortress Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $517,000. Finally, Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,142,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $84.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $72.78 and a fifty-two week high of $97.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $86.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.79. The company has a market cap of $256.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.