Connective Portfolio Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Connective Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 9,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $632,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.92.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC stock opened at $75.86 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $46.12 and a 1 year high of $78.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $72.41 and its 200-day moving average is $63.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $252.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.18.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.26%.

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.