Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Stock

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its target price hoisted by Citigroup from $67.00 to $82.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.07.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $75.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $42.52 and a 1 year high of $76.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $252.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $63.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.81.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $3,822,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,957. This 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter worth about $359,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter worth $302,000. Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 35.7% in the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 35,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,053,000 after acquiring an additional 9,326 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 96.7% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 4,560 shares during the period. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 72,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,206,000 after purchasing an additional 7,114 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.