Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Stake Increased by Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 83.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,062 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Wells Fargo & were worth $495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Palo Capital Inc. boosted its position in Wells Fargo & by 1.3% in the second quarter. Palo Capital Inc. now owns 42,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,359,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Wells Fargo & by 1.6% in the second quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 149,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,276,000 after buying an additional 2,311 shares during the period. Horan Capital Management boosted its position in Wells Fargo & by 5.3% in the second quarter. Horan Capital Management now owns 310,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,199,000 after buying an additional 15,558 shares during the period. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management boosted its position in Wells Fargo & by 2.0% in the second quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 45,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,502,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the period. Finally, Access Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Wells Fargo & by 1.9% in the second quarter. Access Financial Services Inc. now owns 26,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.89% of the company’s stock.

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE WFC) opened at 54.17 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $54.07 and a 200 day moving average of $55.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $43.55 and a 52-week high of $59.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 0.96. Wells Fargo & also was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 24,095 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 149% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,685 call options.

Wells Fargo & (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.05. Wells Fargo & had a net margin of 23.25% and a return on equity of 12.65%. The firm had revenue of $22.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post $4.18 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $11.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $63.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Jefferies Group LLC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Piper Jaffray Companies decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Buckingham Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & in a report on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Instinet decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.71.

In other Wells Fargo & news, insider Avid Modjtabai sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.21, for a total value of $5,421,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ronald Sargent acquired 9,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $55.15 per share, for a total transaction of $499,107.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 81 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,467.15. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 231,278 shares of company stock worth $12,361,120. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

About Wells Fargo &

Wells Fargo & Company is a bank holding company. The Company is a diversified financial services company. It has three operating segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management. The Company offers its services under three categories: personal, small business and commercial.