OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Takes Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 35,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,973,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,512,563,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,364,923,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $859,431,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $729,502,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $620,861,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $84.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $256.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.85. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $72.78 and a 12 month high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 17.55% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm had revenue of $22.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change 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 is presently 29.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 14th. UBS Group decreased 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 report on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.