Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC Takes $11.89 Million Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC acquired 148,443 shares of Wells Fargo & Company, representing an investment of approximately $11.89 million.
• Wells Fargo recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45, reflecting a 2.1% yield and a payout ratio of 30.82%.
• The stock has been rated with a consensus of "Moderate Buy," with a target price around $82.97.

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 148,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,893,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2,735,254.3% in the second quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 949,769,723 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $76,095,550,000 after purchasing an additional 949,735,001 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted 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. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter worth approximately $109,643,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,307,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $381,016,000 after buying an additional 1,365,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 30.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,926,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $353,668,000 after buying an additional 1,152,181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Dbs Bank raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.97.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:WFC opened at $85.01 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $80.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.97. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $54.40 and a fifty-two week high of $86.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $272.32 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.25.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 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 period last year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is presently 30.82%.

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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