Heartland Bank & Trust Co Acquires Shares of 6,456 Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $534,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 3,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Services raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. MFA Wealth Services now owns 16,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 6,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC now owns 7,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $84.82 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $86.11 and a 200-day moving average of $82.79. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $72.78 and a 1-year high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.23. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 17.55%.The firm had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on WFC shares. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.61.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.