Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Research Coverage Started at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $100.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on WFC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $99.00 to $99.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $109.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.98.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of WFC opened at $77.23 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $84.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.25. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $58.42 and a twelve month high of $97.76. The stock has a market cap of $238.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 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 (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $21.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.63 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 12.90%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.71%.

Insider Transactions at Wells Fargo & Company

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 169,496 shares in the company, valued at $14,813,950.40. This trade represents a 26.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bridget E. Engle sold 30,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total value of $2,613,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 83,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,270,933.80. This trade represents a 26.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 115,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,050,000. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter worth approximately $3,990,551,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 37,421,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,487,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760,484 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,197,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,975,600,000 after acquiring an additional 188,186 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 20,625,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,922,257,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,859,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,496,998,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223,999 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Wells Fargo & Company News

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies initiated coverage of WFC with a buy/strong?buy stance and a ~$100 price target, providing a near?term analyst endorsement that can support the stock. Jefferies initiates coverage of Wells Fargo with buy
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo announced digital milestones — Fargo® virtual assistant exceeding 1 billion interactions and the mobile app topping 33 million active users — evidence of fee/data opportunities and customer engagement that investors view as a growth/efficiency tailwind. Wells Fargo Reaches Major Digital Milestones
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo research is active and bullish on large tech themes (e.g., Nvidia data?center TAM and a bullish take on Alphabet), which signals a healthy research franchise and potential trading/prime brokerage revenue but is indirect for WFC’s own fundamentals. Nvidia Targets $1 Trillion in Data Center Revenue — Wells Fargo Sees 20% Upside
• Neutral Sentiment: For income-oriented investors, comparisons of WFC preferred series (WFC?D vs WFC?Y) highlight attractive yields and coverage metrics on certain series — a side-topic that may support buy interest from dividend/preferred buyers even when the common stock is volatile. WFC-D Vs. WFC-Y: Comparing Coupon Extremes
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical risk from the Iran conflict is keeping markets jittery; strategists note pullbacks in major indices as oil and inflation risks rise — a macro headwind that often pressures bank shares like WFC. Wall Street Says Stocks Are Too Cheap to Ignore as War Rages On
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo reduced price targets on certain enterprise names (e.g., Gartner) citing the Iran conflict’s hit to enterprise spending — an example of analyst downgrades that reflect weak near?term IT spend and could depress trading/loan pipelines for banks if corporate capex retrenches. Gartner Price Target Lowered to $140 by Wells Fargo

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.