Abel Hall LLC Increases Stake in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Abel Hall LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 585.5% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Motco lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Saturday, September 27th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Phillip Securities downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.41.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $81.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.07 and a fifty-two week high of $86.65. The company has a market cap of $259.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.25.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%.Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.82%.

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.