Abacus Planning Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 383 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $2,623,044,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 26,319,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,295,459,000 after acquiring an additional 263,176 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 25,218,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,241,231,000 after acquiring an additional 781,772 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,237,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,143,770,000 after acquiring an additional 526,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,941,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $932,352,000 after acquiring an additional 596,521 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $58.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $38.38 and a one year high of $62.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.17.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The business had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WFC shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (down previously from $70.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.63.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.