Aberdeen Group plc Raises Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Aberdeen Group plc grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 95.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,658,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,297,639 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.08% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $225,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at about $373,000. Balboa Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $337,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 88.3% in the 3rd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 290,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,384,000 after acquiring an additional 136,384 shares during the last quarter. New World Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. New World Advisors LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the period. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 37,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.8%

WFC stock opened at $86.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $272.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $91.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $58.42 and a 12 month high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $11.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.63 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.27%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFC has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday. CICC Research began coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $99.00 to $99.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.03.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.