Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Purchases 7,451 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 196,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,451 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company comprises about 1.0% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $15,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 585.5% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Motco increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter worth $29,000. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter worth $34,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WFC shares. Phillip Securities cut Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.74.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $80.63 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $80.77 and its 200 day moving average is $76.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $258.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.81, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.25. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $55.98 and a 12 month high of $86.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 30.82%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.