Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Buys 16,934 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,934 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for 0.7% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $10,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Davidson Trust Co. increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 23,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. HTLF Bank bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $2,278,000. Mokosak Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $212,000. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 547,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,969,000 after acquiring an additional 30,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integral Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WFC. StockNews.com raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.85.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC traded up $1.96 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $60.70. The company had a trading volume of 17,588,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,746,586. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $214.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.19. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $36.40 and a 12-month high of $60.85. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.68.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.19 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 29.23%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.