Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Invests $1.15 Million in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 13,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,148,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,512,563,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 37,421,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,487,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,484 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,197,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,975,600,000 after purchasing an additional 188,186 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 20,625,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,922,257,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $1,364,923,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Wells Fargo & Company

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo is stepping up efforts to recruit independent financial advisers after a reported $1.5 billion overhaul of its wealth-management business. Expanding the adviser network could increase assets under management, fee revenue and the division’s long-term growth prospects. Wells Fargo Makes New Push to Recruit Wealth Managers
• Positive Sentiment: A comparison with PNC Financial characterized WFC as offering a lower valuation and improving efficiency, supporting the view that the stock may have additional value potential despite PNC’s stronger growth and dividend yield. Wells Fargo vs. PNC Financial: Which Stock Offers Better Upside Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: The bank’s most recent quarterly results provide a supportive backdrop: earnings and revenue exceeded analyst expectations, with revenue rising year over year. However, the stock’s valuation and outlook remain sensitive to interest rates, loan growth and credit costs.
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo is reportedly foreclosing on Workspace Property Trust’s $1.3 billion property portfolio after falling occupancy and asset values increased financial stress. Recovering collateral could limit losses, but the action underscores commercial real-estate exposure and potential pressure on credit quality. Wells Fargo Forecloses On $1.3B Workspace Property Trust Loan

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of WFC opened at $85.00 on Friday. 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 $257.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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