Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 978,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,852 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for approximately 1.1% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $77,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WFC. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WFC. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $109.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.34.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $87.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,053,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,508,680. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $80.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.03. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $72.78 and a fifty-two week high of $97.76. The firm has a market cap of $266.46 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.02. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The company had revenue of $11.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.98 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

More Wells Fargo & Company News

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain upbeat on Wells Fargo’s upcoming results, with expectations for higher net interest income and fee income to support earnings. The stock is also benefiting from a “moderate buy” consensus and renewed interest in bank earnings ahead of the reporting season.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo was cited as a bullish name in sector research, and the broader banking group is seen as positioned for solid Q2 results, which could lift financial stocks if the trend holds.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles focused on Wells Fargo mostly previewed the earnings release rather than delivering new company-specific news, so investors are still waiting for a catalyst from the actual report.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market news was mixed but relatively calm, with futures drifting and investors waiting for inflation data and earnings season, which suggests WFC’s move is more tied to positioning than to any fresh negative headline.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.