New England Research & Management Inc. Invests $675,000 in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 9,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $675,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 15.2% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,789,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,532,000 after buying an additional 897,195 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,641,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $375,183,000 after purchasing an additional 162,066 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,284,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,983,000 after buying an additional 575,892 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,375,000 after buying an additional 5,237,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $160,529,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $78.41 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $261.07 billion, a PE ratio of 14.57, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.38. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $47.45 and a 12-month high of $78.98.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Compass Point upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.