Howard Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $77.43 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.11. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $81.50. The company has a market capitalization of $257.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of 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 boosted their target price 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, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.39.

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.