United Bank Makes New Investment in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

United Bank purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WFC. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 3,016 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $256,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 51.7% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 3,285 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 19,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 75.5% during the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 7,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 3,269 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WFC shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Compass Point lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.97.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $70.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $75.84 and its 200-day moving average is $70.03. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $81.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 29.74%.

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.