Johnson Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 34,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,872,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,652,000 after buying an additional 25,436 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 12.9% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 22,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,835,000 after buying an additional 2,615 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 111.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 14,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after acquiring an additional 7,368 shares during the last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 3,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 51.2% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,044,000 after acquiring an additional 8,714 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $83.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $72.78 and a fifty-two week high of $97.76. The firm has a market cap of $253.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $86.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.91.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.23. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 17.55%.The company had revenue of $22.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.