KDT Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 10,000 Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• KDT Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company, purchasing 10,000 shares valued at approximately $718,000 in the first quarter.
• Other institutional investors have also increased their positions in Wells Fargo, with Massachusetts Financial Services raising its holdings by 277.4% in the same period.
• Wells Fargo recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, an increase from the prior dividend of $0.40, reflecting a 2.2% dividend yield.

KDT Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 10,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $718,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 25,436 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $834,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 5,660 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 496 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 1,352,433 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $94,995,000 after purchasing an additional 4,681 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Phillip Securities lowered Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen started 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.56.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 3.5%

Wells Fargo & Company stock traded down $2.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.98. 20,656,880 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,342,975. 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 $253.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.52, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company's 50-day moving average is $80.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.06.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is currently 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.