Saudi Central Bank Raises Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Saudi Central Bank increased its Wells Fargo stake by 85.1% in the second quarter, adding 98,634 shares to reach 214,501 shares valued at approximately $17.7 million.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Wells Fargo receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $98.61.
• Wells Fargo exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $1.96 in EPS and $22.62 billion in revenue, while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share.

Saudi Central Bank raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 85.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 98,634 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $17,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Navalign LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Phillip James Consulting Co. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $104.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 14th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $89.90 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $72.78 and a fifty-two week high of $97.76. The company has a market cap of $271.86 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.66.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.86 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.55% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is 29.07%.

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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