Sen. Mitch McConnell Buys Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) recently bought shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC). In a filing disclosed on March 12th, the Senator disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Wells Fargo & Company stock on March 3rd.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $68.35 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.15 and a 52 week high of $81.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WFC. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.39.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 190,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,369,000 after acquiring an additional 30,510 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 638,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,055,000 after acquiring an additional 173,083 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 177,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,031,000 after acquiring an additional 26,320 shares in the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 132,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,504,000 after acquiring an additional 18,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,027,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,055,000 after acquiring an additional 131,322 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

About Senator McConnell

Mitch McConnell (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from Kentucky. He assumed office on January 3, 1985. His current term ends on January 3, 2027. McConnell (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent Kentucky. He won in the general election on November 3, 2020. McConnell is the Senate minority leader in the 118th Congress. He became the minority leader when the Democratic Party gained a majority in the Senate in January 2021.McConnell previously served as Senate majority leader from 2015 to 2021. He was unanimously elected as majority leader by Republicans following the 2014 elections. Before that, he served as Senate minority leader from 2007 to 2015. As Senate majority leader, McConnell set records for the number of judicial nominees confirmed during the first two years of a presidency. As of July 2019, the Senate had confirmed two Supreme Court justices, 41 circuit court appeals judges, and 80 district court judges during President Donald Trump’s presidency. “To put that in context, that’s about one in five of the Courts of Appeals judges nationwide have now been appointed by this president and confirmed by this Senate in two and a half years. And I want you to know that my view is, there will be no vacancies left behind. None,” McConnell said in June 2019. McConnell previously worked as the Deputy U.S. Attorney for Legislative Affairs from 1974 to 1975 and as a judge-executive of Jefferson County, KY, from 1979 to 1985.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.