First Financial Corp IN Boosts Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

First Financial Corp IN lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 36.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,691 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $364,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 208.0% during the fourth quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 528,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 356,620 shares during the period. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 target price (up from $57.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.15.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of WFC traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $56.99. The company had a trading volume of 6,854,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,310,793. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $38.38 and a 52-week high of $62.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The firm had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.23%.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

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.