8,037 Shares in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Purchased by Old West Investment Management LLC

Old West Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 8,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $477,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WFC. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 26,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 12,778 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 15,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the period. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 41,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,031,000 after purchasing an additional 3,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Associated Banc Corp boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 50,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,491,000 after purchasing an additional 3,419 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WFC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $53.81 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $187.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $38.38 and a 52-week high of $62.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $56.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.92.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The business had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 32.85%.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

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