Merit Financial Group LLC Has $6.74 Million Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,311 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $6,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at about $272,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 13,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 93,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,581,000 after purchasing an additional 13,241 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 248,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,748,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 36.0% in the second quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 74,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,442,000 after purchasing an additional 19,790 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $77.22 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $46.12 and a twelve month high of $78.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $257.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.44.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.39.

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.