Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Acquired by Carnegie Investment Counsel

Key Points

• Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 11.5%, holding a total of 28,944 shares valued at approximately $2.08 million at the end of the first quarter.
• A significant number of institutional investors also increased their positions in Wells Fargo, with Capital Research Global Investors growing its stake by 932% during the previous quarter.
• Wells Fargo reported an EPS of $1.54 for the latest quarter, beating analysts' expectations, and its board authorized a share repurchase plan allowing for the buyback of $40 billion in shares.

Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 11.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,944 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,985 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,839 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.3% during the first quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 3,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.6% during the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 8,806 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 22,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,580,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WFC. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Dbs Bank upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. TD Cowen began coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC stock traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $84.25. 14,071,803 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,653,194. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $77.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.61. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $84.83. 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 firm has a market cap of $274.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

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.