Brooks Moore & Associates Inc. Buys Shares of 13,485 Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Brooks Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 13,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at approximately $658,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 350,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,673,000 after buying an additional 14,168 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 412,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,446,000 after acquiring an additional 17,302 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,512,563,000. Finally, Winning Points Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $3,384,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo is stepping up efforts to recruit independent financial advisers after a reported $1.5 billion overhaul of its wealth-management business. Expanding the adviser network could increase assets under management, fee revenue and the division’s long-term growth prospects. Wells Fargo Makes New Push to Recruit Wealth Managers
• Positive Sentiment: A comparison with PNC Financial characterized WFC as offering a lower valuation and improving efficiency, supporting the view that the stock may have additional value potential despite PNC’s stronger growth and dividend yield. Wells Fargo vs. PNC Financial: Which Stock Offers Better Upside Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: The bank’s most recent quarterly results provide a supportive backdrop: earnings and revenue exceeded analyst expectations, with revenue rising year over year. However, the stock’s valuation and outlook remain sensitive to interest rates, loan growth and credit costs.
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo is reportedly foreclosing on Workspace Property Trust’s $1.3 billion property portfolio after falling occupancy and asset values increased financial stress. Recovering collateral could limit losses, but the action underscores commercial real-estate exposure and potential pressure on credit quality. Wells Fargo Forecloses On $1.3B Workspace Property Trust Loan

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:WFC opened at $85.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.92. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $72.78 and a fifty-two week high of $97.76. The company has a fifty day moving average of $86.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.68.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $21.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.