Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $97.0263.

WFC has been the subject of a number of research reports. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $99.00 to $99.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bridget E. Engle sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total value of $2,613,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 83,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,270,933.80. This represents a 26.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total transaction of $5,244,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 169,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,813,950.40. The trade was a 26.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 115,000 shares of company stock worth $10,050,000. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 25,436 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Convergence Financial LLC now owns 3,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 273,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 188,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,118,000 after purchasing an additional 9,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,099,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,981,000 after buying an additional 48,882 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.6%

WFC traded up $0.42 on Friday, reaching $75.67. 2,609,541 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,119,988. The company has a market cap of $233.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $58.42 and a one year high of $97.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.51.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $21.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.63 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.71%.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.