Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Purchased by Fruth Investment Management

Fruth Investment Management raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WFC. Slagle Financial LLC raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 138,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,822,000 after acquiring an additional 68,356 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 35,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $2,499,000. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 152,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,805,000 after buying an additional 21,496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, G2 Capital Management LLC OH purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $278,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC traded down $0.31 during trading on Thursday, hitting $60.66. 6,698,813 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,808,808. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $38.38 and a 1 year high of $62.55. The company has a market cap of $211.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.34.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The firm had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WFC shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up from $57.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Argus upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.36.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.