Kirkwood Financial Services Purchases New Shares in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Kirkwood Financial Services purchased 14,802 Wells Fargo shares worth approximately $1.22 million in the second quarter, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 75.9% of WFC.
• Wells Fargo beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.96 in earnings per share versus the $1.73 consensus estimate and $22.62 billion in revenue, up 8.6% year over year.
• The bank raised its quarterly dividend from $0.45 to $0.50 per share, producing a 2.2% annualized yield; analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $98.61.

Kirkwood Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,223,000. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for 0.3% of Kirkwood Financial Services' investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,116,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7,954.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 384,483,013 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,773,676,000 after purchasing an additional 379,709,426 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 6.9% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 154,312 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,450,000 after purchasing an additional 9,919 shares during the last quarter. Kintra Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth $442,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth $115,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:WFC opened at $89.90 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $86.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $271.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $72.78 and a 1 year high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.86 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.55% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WFC shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $104.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.

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