32,433 Shares in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Acquired by Advocate Group LLC

Advocate Group LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 32,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,599,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 585.5% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Motco raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $77.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.53. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $58.42 and a 52-week high of $86.65.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $87.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. Raymond James Financial cut Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.41.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.