Highland Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Highland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 56.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,601 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,003 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7.5% during the first quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 51,290 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,568 shares in the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5,965.2% during the first quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC now owns 80,546 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,782,000 after acquiring an additional 79,218 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 9.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 381,564 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,227,000 after acquiring an additional 31,998 shares in the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter worth $529,000. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 19.5% during the first quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 300,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,598,000 after acquiring an additional 49,178 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WFC shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Seven investment 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 has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.98.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.7%

WFC opened at $79.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $258.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.15 and a 52 week high of $81.50. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $73.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 16.19%. The firm's revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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