Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Shares Acquired by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.1%, acquiring over 125,000 additional shares, bringing its total holdings to over 1.36 million shares valued at approximately $109 million.
• Wells Fargo reported a Q2 earnings per share of $1.54, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a year-on-year revenue growth of 0.6%.
• The company raised its dividend from $0.40 to $0.45 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders with an annual yield of 2.3%.

Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 10.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,361,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 125,012 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $109,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 585.5% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter worth $27,000. Motco increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter worth $29,000. Finally, 1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $77.74 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $80.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.51. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $58.42 and a 1 year high of $86.65. The company has a market capitalization of $249.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders 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 a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 30.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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 note on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.41.

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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