Pure Financial Advisors LLC Takes Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 32,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,653,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WFC. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Navalign LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Phillip James Consulting Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WFC shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $85.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $86.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.68. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $72.78 and a fifty-two week high of $97.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.23. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 17.55%.The business had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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

More Wells Fargo & Company News

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo is stepping up efforts to recruit independent financial advisers after a reported $1.5 billion overhaul of its wealth-management business. Expanding the adviser network could increase assets under management, fee revenue and the division’s long-term growth prospects. Wells Fargo Makes New Push to Recruit Wealth Managers
• Positive Sentiment: A comparison with PNC Financial characterized WFC as offering a lower valuation and improving efficiency, supporting the view that the stock may have additional value potential despite PNC’s stronger growth and dividend yield. Wells Fargo vs. PNC Financial: Which Stock Offers Better Upside Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: The bank’s most recent quarterly results provide a supportive backdrop: earnings and revenue exceeded analyst expectations, with revenue rising year over year. However, the stock’s valuation and outlook remain sensitive to interest rates, loan growth and credit costs.
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo is reportedly foreclosing on Workspace Property Trust’s $1.3 billion property portfolio after falling occupancy and asset values increased financial stress. Recovering collateral could limit losses, but the action underscores commercial real-estate exposure and potential pressure on credit quality. Wells Fargo Forecloses On $1.3B Workspace Property Trust Loan

Wells Fargo & 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.