Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 335,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,120 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $28,151,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,656,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $147,165,000. Guerra Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 43.2% during the third quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc now owns 38,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,222,000 after purchasing an additional 11,594 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1,121.0% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 24,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,018,000 after purchasing an additional 22,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 54.2% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 38,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,224,000 after purchasing an additional 13,393 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WFC. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. CICC Research initiated coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $96.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $113.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 3.1%

NYSE:WFC opened at $89.08 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $279.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $91.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $58.42 and a 52 week high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.27%.The business had revenue of $11.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 28.71%.

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.