Morgan Stanley Boosts Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target to $88.00

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 13.96% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research raised 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 report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.17.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of WFC opened at $77.22 on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $46.12 and a 52-week 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.33. The company has a market capitalization of $257.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.18.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFC. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at $225,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 16.7% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 607,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,546,000 after acquiring an additional 86,777 shares during the period. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 9.9% during the second quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 46,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,790,000 after acquiring an additional 4,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 61.1% in the 2nd quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 9,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 3,790 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

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.