Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases New Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co. acquired 541,059 Wells Fargo shares worth approximately $44.7 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.9% of WFC’s outstanding stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.61. Recent actions included upgrades from Phillip Securities and Wall Street Zen, while UBS lowered its target to $104.
• Wells Fargo exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.96 EPS and $22.62 billion in revenue. The company also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.45 to $0.50 per share, implying a 2.4% annualized yield.

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 541,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $44,713,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Navalign LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Phillip James Consulting Co. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $104.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $84.82 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $256.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.92. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $72.78 and a one year high of $97.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $86.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.79. 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 (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.07%.

Wells Fargo & Company 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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