E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Grows Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Slagle Financial LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 138,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,822,000 after purchasing an additional 68,356 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 35,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 152,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,805,000 after purchasing an additional 21,496 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 473,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,441,000 after purchasing an additional 106,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evoke Wealth LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $54.54 on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $38.38 and a 52-week high of $62.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $56.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $190.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WFC. Morgan Stanley increased 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.29.

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.