Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. Acquires 426 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Monarch Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.1% during the first quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 23.1% in the first quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 21,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares in the last quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,059,000. Manitou Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter worth approximately $88,000. Finally, Sonora Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 26.1% during the 1st quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 4,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 973 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of WFC opened at $75.46 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $81.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $70.70 and its 200-day moving average is $72.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $245.56 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on WFC shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.68.

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.