Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Stock Bought Sen. Mitch McConnell

Senator Mitch McConnell (Republican-Kentucky) recently bought shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC). In a filing disclosed on September 21st, the Senator disclosed that they had bought between $15,001 and $50,000 in Wells Fargo & Company stock on September 1st.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC opened at $81.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $247.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.92. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $72.78 and a 12 month high of $97.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.85.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.23. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.55% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

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

Trending Headlines about Wells Fargo & Company

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

• Positive Sentiment: Higher rates may support net interest income. Analysts said the Federal Reserve’s latest rate hike could help Wells Fargo expand the spread between lending yields and deposit costs. However, the benefit may be limited as the bank pays more to retain deposits. Fed Rate Hike: What it Means for Wells Fargo’s NII Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Internal succession should reduce leadership uncertainty. Wells Fargo named current Chief Operating Officer Scott E. Powell as its next chief risk officer. His appointment follows Chief Risk Officer Derek Flowers’ planned retirement in January and suggests a relatively smooth transition for a critical risk-management role. Wells Fargo Names Scott Powell New Chief Risk Officer
• Neutral Sentiment: Flowers’ retirement is being closely monitored. Derek Flowers will retire after nearly three decades at Wells Fargo. Although the planned departure could raise questions about continuity, the promotion of Powell may ease concerns because the successor is already familiar with the bank’s operations. Wells Fargo’s chief risk officer Derek Flowers to retire
• Negative Sentiment: AI-related disruption fears pressured bank stocks. Reports that Meta’s Muse AI agent could automate or reshape financial services triggered a broad decline among Wells Fargo, JPMorgan and Bank of America. The concern is longer-term: AI could intensify competition and reduce the value of traditional banking services, even though no immediate earnings impact was identified. JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Bank of America Slide as Meta’s Muse Sparks AI Fears

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth about $658,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 412,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,446,000 after purchasing an additional 17,302 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,922,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,512,563,000. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth approximately $1,190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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 report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.08.

About Senator McConnell

Mitch McConnell (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from Kentucky. He assumed office on January 3, 1985. His current term ends on January 3, 2027. McConnell (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent Kentucky. He won in the general election on November 3, 2020. McConnell is the Senate minority leader in the 118th Congress. He became the minority leader when the Democratic Party gained a majority in the Senate in January 2021.McConnell previously served as Senate majority leader from 2015 to 2021. He was unanimously elected as majority leader by Republicans following the 2014 elections. Before that, he served as Senate minority leader from 2007 to 2015. As Senate majority leader, McConnell set records for the number of judicial nominees confirmed during the first two years of a presidency. As of July 2019, the Senate had confirmed two Supreme Court justices, 41 circuit court appeals judges, and 80 district court judges during President Donald Trump’s presidency. “To put that in context, that’s about one in five of the Courts of Appeals judges nationwide have now been appointed by this president and confirmed by this Senate in two and a half years. And I want you to know that my view is, there will be no vacancies left behind. None,” McConnell said in June 2019. McConnell previously worked as the Deputy U.S. Attorney for Legislative Affairs from 1974 to 1975 and as a judge-executive of Jefferson County, KY, from 1979 to 1985.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company that provides banking, lending, investment, and wealth management services to consumers, businesses, and institutions. Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, personal lending, commercial financing, and treasury management services.

The company operates through businesses that include consumer and small-business banking, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.