Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Trading Up 0.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) shares traded up 0.8% during trading on Thursday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $57.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company traded as high as $60.22 and last traded at $60.18. 2,973,936 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 18,057,982 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.72.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WFC. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $61.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.52.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WFC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $2,623,044,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 26,319,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,295,459,000 after buying an additional 263,176 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 25,218,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,241,231,000 after acquiring an additional 781,772 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,237,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,143,770,000 after acquiring an additional 526,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,941,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $932,352,000 after acquiring an additional 596,521 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 6.0 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.17.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.23%.

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.