Choate Investment Advisors Increases Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Choate Investment Advisors grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,033 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 579,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,763,000 after purchasing an additional 20,053 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 159,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,028,000 after purchasing an additional 19,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 6,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $70.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $81.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $75.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.93. The firm has a market cap of $233.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.