Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.82.

WFC has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC opened at $64.53 on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $38.62 and a 52-week high of $65.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $57.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.25. The company has a market cap of $219.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.26%.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,853,327.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at $10,421,957. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter worth about $2,638,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.7% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter worth approximately $371,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at $298,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 6,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.