Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 17,089 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 32.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 69,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,089 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $6,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at about $3,656,000. Three Bridge Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at $364,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth $40,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth $10,729,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.2% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 406,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,553,000 after purchasing an additional 47,257 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of WFC opened at $88.36 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $90.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $277.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.09. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $58.42 and a twelve month high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $21.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.63 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the subject of several recent research reports. CICC Research initiated coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.87.

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.