Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 332,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,692 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $16,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 208.0% during the fourth quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 528,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 356,620 shares in the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WFC. Raymond James increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Odeon Capital Group cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $48.80 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Compass Point reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $62.00 price target (up from $56.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.85.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $57.18 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $55.42 and its 200 day moving average is $48.61. The stock has a market cap of $202.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.19. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $36.40 and a 1-year high of $58.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.19 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 29.23%.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.