Advisortrust Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Advisortrust Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $981,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 3,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 6,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 3,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of WFC opened at $82.31 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $72.78 and a 52 week high of $97.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $251.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.70 and a 200-day moving average of $84.59.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.02. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 17.26%.The company had revenue of $11.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.39 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WFC. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. HSBC raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $109.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. KGI Securities downgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.24.

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.