Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Shares Purchased by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 123.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 24,928 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,512,563,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,635,881,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,364,923,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $859,431,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $729,502,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC stock opened at $89.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.56 and a 200-day moving average of $82.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $269.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.92. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $72.78 and a 12-month high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.23. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 17.55%.The business had revenue of $22.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. 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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