Lane Brothers & Co. Inc. Takes Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Lane Brothers & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 9,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $893,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Navalign LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $82.31 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $251.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.93. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $72.78 and a 12 month high of $97.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.85 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 13.27%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $113.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Two equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.24.

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.