Fortress Financial Group LLC Makes New $517,000 Investment in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Fortress Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $517,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 3,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Services raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.7% during the second quarter. MFA Wealth Services now owns 16,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,381,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 6,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC now owns 7,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% in the second quarter. Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WFC shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Friday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. 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 on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Two research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:WFC opened at $84.82 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.79. 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 one year low of $72.78 and a one year high of $97.76. The company has a market cap of $256.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.92.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted 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. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.55% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost 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 (DPR) is presently 29.07%.

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.