Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $583,000.

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

Key Stories Impacting Wells Fargo & Company

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo is stepping up efforts to recruit independent financial advisers after a reported $1.5 billion overhaul of its wealth-management business. Expanding the adviser network could increase assets under management, fee revenue and the division’s long-term growth prospects. Wells Fargo Makes New Push to Recruit Wealth Managers
• Positive Sentiment: A comparison with PNC Financial characterized WFC as offering a lower valuation and improving efficiency, supporting the view that the stock may have additional value potential despite PNC’s stronger growth and dividend yield. Wells Fargo vs. PNC Financial: Which Stock Offers Better Upside Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: The bank’s most recent quarterly results provide a supportive backdrop: earnings and revenue exceeded analyst expectations, with revenue rising year over year. However, the stock’s valuation and outlook remain sensitive to interest rates, loan growth and credit costs.
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo is reportedly foreclosing on Workspace Property Trust’s $1.3 billion property portfolio after falling occupancy and asset values increased financial stress. Recovering collateral could limit losses, but the action underscores commercial real-estate exposure and potential pressure on credit quality. Wells Fargo Forecloses On $1.3B Workspace Property Trust Loan

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America lifted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $85.00 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $72.78 and a one year high of $97.76. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $86.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.92.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.86 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 17.55%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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

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.