Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Makes New $44.71 Million Investment in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 541,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $44,713,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 3,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Services increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. MFA Wealth Services now owns 16,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 6,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC now owns 7,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% in the second quarter. Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $84.82 on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $72.78 and a 1 year high of $97.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $86.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.79. The firm has a market cap of $256.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 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 issued 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 return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 17.55%.The company had revenue of $22.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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. Bank of America increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & 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.