Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,475 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $651,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WFC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $2,049,693,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 129,312.1% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,287,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,085,410,000 after purchasing an additional 26,267,166 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1,478.6% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,390,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $406,609,000 after purchasing an additional 7,859,100 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter worth about $345,861,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 48,648.8% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,980,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,554,000 after buying an additional 4,969,962 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WFC. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $53.00 in a report on Thursday, October 12th. Atlantic Securities increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $50.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $48.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.31.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of WFC stock opened at $42.79 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $155.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.24, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.17. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $35.25 and a one year high of $48.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.09 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.06% and a return on equity of 11.18%. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 2nd. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 30.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard K. Davis acquired 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $41.22 per share, for a total transaction of $144,270.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $174,937.68. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company, a diversified financial services company, provides banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.