Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Has $56.65 Million Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 106.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 789,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 407,769 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company makes up about 1.1% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $56,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $221,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,652,000 after purchasing an additional 25,436 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $217,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $133,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.68.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC traded down $1.64 on Friday, reaching $72.37. 13,044,917 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,130,611. The company has a fifty day moving average of $71.22 and a 200-day moving average of $72.97. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $81.50. The company has a market capitalization of $235.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's management 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.73%.

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.