Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.12.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Compass Point lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $74.34 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $41.99 and a 1-year high of $74.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $247.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.77 and its 200-day moving average is $59.20.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. The business had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.40 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,421,957. This trade represents a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.3% during the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 11,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% in the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 90,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 6,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 33.6% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 17,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 4,517 shares during the period. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter valued at about $267,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.