Trust Co. of Vermont Increases Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 3.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 432 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter worth about $236,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 18,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022 shares in the last quarter. Great Waters Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $395,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 24,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,426,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 11,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $673,000 after buying an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. Argus raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $61.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Compass Point reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (down from $70.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.91.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC traded up $0.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $52.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,718,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,254,875. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.99. The firm has a market cap of $182.40 billion, a PE ratio of 10.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.17. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $38.38 and a one year high of $62.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.85%.

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.