Advocate Group LLC Takes Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Advocate Group LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company, buying 32,433 shares valued at approximately $2.6 million in the second quarter of the year.
• Wells Fargo has recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45, representing a 2.3% yield and a dividend payout ratio of 30.82%.
• Analysts maintain a "Moderate Buy" rating on Wells Fargo, with an average price target of $85.41, reflecting mixed sentiments from recent upgrade and downgrade reports.

Advocate Group LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 32,433 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,599,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WFC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of 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. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 296.5% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 686 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 47,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,393,000 after purchasing an additional 4,786 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 28.5% during the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 22,091 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 4,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 33,210 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 4,643 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Phillip Securities lowered Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.41.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 2.7%

NYSE:WFC opened at $77.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business's 50 day moving average is $80.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.53. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $58.42 and a 52 week high of $86.65. The company has a market cap of $249.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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