Wells Fargo & Company $WFC is Great Lakes Advisors LLC's 7th Largest Position

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo by 2.8%, owning over 2.3 million shares, which makes the company its 7th largest holding.
• Wells Fargo recently announced a dividend increase from $0.40 to $0.45 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.3%.
• Despite a quarterly earnings report showing earnings per share of $1.54, Wells Fargo's stock has seen fluctuations, recently down 3.5%.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,316,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 63,926 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company makes up about 1.5% of Great Lakes Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $166,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,497,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,471,259,000 after acquiring an additional 128,207 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $771,092,000 after purchasing an additional 7,894,919 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,953,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $640,616,000 after purchasing an additional 523,107 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,009,440 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $431,418,000 after purchasing an additional 544,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,307,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $381,016,000 after buying an additional 1,365,629 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE WFC traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $80.29. The stock had a trading volume of 16,458,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,017,623. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.22 and a 52-week high of $84.83. The firm has a market cap of $257.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.25. The business's fifty day moving average price is $80.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.05. 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 (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is 30.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Phillip Securities lowered Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "hold" rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.56.

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.