Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys 8,798 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 32.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,798 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 180.4% during the 4th quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WFC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price (down previously from $70.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.63.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $56.73 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.53. 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 52-week low of $38.38 and a 52-week high of $62.55. The stock has a market cap of $197.78 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

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.