Essential Planning LLC. Makes New $9.37 Million Investment in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Essential Planning LLC. bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 137,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,366,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WFC. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $10,639,000. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Summit X LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Summit X LLC now owns 3,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 11,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $826,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith & Howard Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $215,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on WFC. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $67.33 on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $81.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $75.96 and its 200 day moving average is $68.74. The stock has a market cap of $221.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.74%.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.