Johnson Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 34,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,872,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Navalign LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $83.83 on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $72.78 and a twelve month high of $97.76. The company has a market capitalization of $253.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.08 and a 200 day moving average of $82.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $21.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.61.

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.