Wells Fargo & Company $WFC Stock: Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stake

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 275,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,494 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $22,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 117.9% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,221,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,004,000 after buying an additional 660,825 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,883,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $150,770,000 after acquiring an additional 86,749 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC now owns 17,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 45,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,603,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 8,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WFC shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.50.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.4%

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $85.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $72.78 and a 52-week high of $97.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $84.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.59. The firm has a market cap of $257.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.10, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.93.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.64% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $21.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.21%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company offering banking, lending, investment, and wealth management services. Its products include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, commercial financing, investment services, and financial advice. The company serves consumers, businesses, and institutions, primarily in the United States. Its operations include consumer and small business banking, commercial banking, and corporate and investment banking, as well as wealth and investment management.