Argyle Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Argyle Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 860 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for 1.2% of Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2,735,254.3% in the 2nd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 949,769,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,095,550,000 after acquiring an additional 949,735,001 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $771,092,000 after acquiring an additional 7,894,919 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $109,643,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,307,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $381,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,365,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,926,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $353,668,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152,181 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $79.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.25. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $57.35 and a twelve month high of $86.65. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.48.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Phillip Securities downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.41.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.