Rayburn West Financial Services LLC Purchases New Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Rayburn West Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 19,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,607,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Navalign LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Phillip James Consulting Co. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter valued at $28,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group dropped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:WFC opened at $83.83 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $86.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.97. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $72.78 and a 52 week high of $97.76. The company has a market capitalization of $253.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $22.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.86 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.55% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.07%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.