Howard Capital Management Inc. Acquires 2,928 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 12.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,928 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 585.5% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Motco raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $86.86 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.11. The company has a market cap of $278.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.25. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $58.42 and a 12-month high of $87.47.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.11 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 29.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WFC. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.57.

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.