Old North State Trust LLC Invests $722,000 in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Old North State Trust LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 8,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $722,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 25,436 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 12.9% during the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 22,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,835,000 after buying an additional 2,615 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 111.0% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 14,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after buying an additional 7,368 shares during the last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.4% in the second quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 3,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 51.2% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,044,000 after buying an additional 8,714 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.3%

WFC stock opened at $85.00 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $86.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.68. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $72.78 and a fifty-two week high of $97.76. The firm has a market cap 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 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 released its quarterly 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. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.55% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. 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%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

Key Stories 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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFC has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.61.

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.