Stratos Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Stratos Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. Stratos Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sargent Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $261,000. Avitas Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,241,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 20,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,457,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Welch Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 21,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,517,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tempus Wealth Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $231,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE:WFC opened at $80.07 on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $47.45 and a 52 week high of $80.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.06. The stock has a market cap of $266.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.18.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Compass Point raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.39.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.