Vista Investment Management Takes Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Vista Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 28,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,333,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at $1,437,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth about $9,047,000. Alta Advisers Ltd acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,025,000. Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,725,000. Finally, Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,549,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC stock opened at $84.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $256.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $86.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.79. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $72.78 and a 1-year high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.23. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 17.55%.The company had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.07%.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.