Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 43.1%, now owning 150,958 shares valued at approximately $12 million.
• Wells Fargo recently declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.40 to $0.45 per share, representing an annualized payout of $1.80 and a 2.2% dividend yield.
• According to recent analyst reports, Wells Fargo has a consensus price target of $83.74 with nine analysts rating it as a "Buy".

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 43.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 150,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 45,483 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $12,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Management Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.5% in the second quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 3,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 3,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Lynch & Associates IN boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% during the second quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 6,729 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 19.3% during the second quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 854 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WFC. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $83.74.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $80.63 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $258.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.25. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $55.98 and a 52-week high of $86.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.31.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders 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 an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.82%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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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