Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Stock Holdings Lowered by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in Wells Fargo by 0.5% in the second quarter, resulting in ownership of 1,102,749 shares valued at approximately $88.35 million.
• Recent analyst ratings for Wells Fargo show a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $89.57, reflecting optimism despite varying individual ratings from firms like Goldman Sachs and Barclays.
• Wells Fargo announced a dividend increase from $0.40 to $0.45 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $1.80 and a yield of 2.1% based on the latest figures.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,102,749 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,242 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $88,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,652,000 after purchasing an additional 25,436 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 11.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 47,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,393,000 after buying an additional 4,786 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter valued at about $60,000. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,207 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 39.9% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 529,952 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,045,000 after purchasing an additional 151,108 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WFC. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 4th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.57.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE:WFC opened at $86.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $276.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $58.42 and a twelve month high of $87.47. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $81.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.11 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 17.18%.The firm's revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.61%.

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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