Strs Ohio Makes New Investment in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired over 1.5 million shares of Wells Fargo & Company, valued at approximately $109.6 million, signifying a new investment during the first quarter.
• Wells Fargo reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.54 for the recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.41.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.45 per share, reflecting a boost from the previous $0.40 and resulting in an annualized yield of 2.2%.

Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,527,279 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $109,643,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Motco increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten investment 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, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.56.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.6%

WFC stock opened at $80.29 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.22 and a twelve month high of $84.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.09. The company has a market capitalization of $257.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.25.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. The firm 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 revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 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 Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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