WCG Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

WCG Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 158.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,206 shares during the period. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $9,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 59.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 35,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,289,000 after acquiring an additional 13,196 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 532,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,610,000 after acquiring an additional 84,902 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 350,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,673,000 after acquiring an additional 14,168 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 54.2% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 38,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,224,000 after acquiring an additional 13,393 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth $4,807,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. HSBC upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. KGI Securities downgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $91.00 to $86.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.53.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.9%

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $78.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $240.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.93. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $71.93 and a fifty-two week high of $97.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $79.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.85 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Key Wells Fargo & Company News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America said Wells Fargo may now be an attractive buying opportunity, noting the stock has fallen more sharply than its underlying fundamentals and now looks cheap relative to peers. Wells Fargo shares at attractive entry point amid execution concerns
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo is using recent publicity to highlight its consumer and housing franchise, including a new survey showing many first-time homebuyers lack mortgage knowledge. This is more of a brand and engagement story than a direct earnings catalyst. Are You Ready to Buy a Home? Wells Fargo Finds Most Prospective First-Time Buyers Aren’t and Don’t Know It
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo also announced that CFO Mike Santomassimo will present at the Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference on June 9, which could provide fresh commentary on strategy and outlook. Wells Fargo to Present at the Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference
• Negative Sentiment: Investor attention is still being weighed down by concerns around Wells Fargo’s execution and the lingering fallout from product-transition issues tied to Bilt’s move away from Wells Fargo as a banking partner, which has prompted CFPB involvement. CFPB Meets With Bilt Following Credit Card Switchover Issues

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.