Westpac Banking Corp Invests $3.38 Million in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 40,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,376,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 3,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Services increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. MFA Wealth Services now owns 16,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Simmons Bank increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 6,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC now owns 7,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target 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. Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 14th. Two 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 MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $84.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $256.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.92. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $72.78 and a 1-year high of $97.76. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $86.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.79.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $22.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.86 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.55% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.07%.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.