Trilogy Capital Inc. Makes New Investment in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Trilogy Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,105,218,000 after buying an additional 14,210,193 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $771,092,000 after purchasing an additional 7,894,919 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7,887.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,589,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350,605 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,411,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $198,801,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen started coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $84.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $274.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.43, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $77.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.61. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.15 and a 52 week high of $84.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.40%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.