Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC Invests $926,000 in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $926,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 3.6 %

NYSE:WFC opened at $70.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $233.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $81.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WFC. Royal Bank of Canada raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Compass Point raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.39.

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.