Carlson Capital L.P. Purchases New Shares in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Carlson Capital L.P. bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 45,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,624,000. Wells Fargo & Company makes up 1.1% of Carlson Capital L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 532,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,610,000 after purchasing an additional 84,902 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 350,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,673,000 after purchasing an additional 14,168 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 412,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,446,000 after purchasing an additional 17,302 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $4,512,563,000. Finally, Winning Points Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $3,384,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WFC shares. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $94.00 target price (down from $100.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Friday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.4%

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $86.60 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.17. 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 has a 12 month low of $72.78 and a 12 month high of $97.76. The stock has a market cap of $261.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.92.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.86 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 17.55%.Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.16%.

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.