Quent Capital LLC Raises Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $221,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,652,000 after purchasing an additional 25,436 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $230,000. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $264,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE WFC opened at $74.49 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $70.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.89. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $242.39 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Raymond James dropped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.73.

Wells Fargo & 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.