Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on WFC. Barclays raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $54.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Odeon Capital Group lowered Wells Fargo & Company from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $48.80 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. HSBC raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a neutral rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $58.85.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of WFC stock opened at $58.74 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $55.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.68. The company has a market cap of $207.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.19. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $36.40 and a fifty-two week high of $59.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. The company had revenue of $20.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.23%.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lazari Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 10,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 4,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 20,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $998,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 6,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.