Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC has acquired 10,937 shares in Wells Fargo & Company valued at approximately $785,000, marking a new investment in the financial services sector.
• In recent quarters, institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Wells Fargo, with notable increases including a 932.0% stake raise by Capital Research Global Investors and a 7,887.9% increase by GAMMA Investing LLC.
• Wells Fargo recently announced a $40 billion share buyback plan, indicating the board's belief that the company's stock is undervalued, and a quarterly dividend of $0.40 was paid to shareholders.

Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 10,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $785,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,652,000 after buying an additional 25,436 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 7,452 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 15,013 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 4,811 shares in the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 9,494 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $117,026,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial cut Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE WFC traded down $1.29 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $83.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,625,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,290,604. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $84.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $270.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.63.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The firm's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 27.40%.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.