Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target to $79.00

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its price target lifted by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $61.00 to $79.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.12% from the company’s previous close.

WFC has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wolfe Research raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Thirteen 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.62.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:WFC opened at $73.07 on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $44.41 and a 12-month high of $78.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.61.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Wells Fargo & Company

In other news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,421,957. The trade was a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% during the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 575,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,505,000 after purchasing an additional 11,037 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 17.4% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 177,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,031,000 after purchasing an additional 26,320 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 37.2% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 638,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,055,000 after purchasing an additional 173,083 shares in the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 132,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,504,000 after purchasing an additional 18,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argus Investors Counsel Inc. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% during the third quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 31,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,780,000 after purchasing an additional 8,107 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.