Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target Increased to $64.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $63.00 to $64.00 in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

WFC has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com cut Wells Fargo & Company from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Compass Point reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $58.85.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC stock opened at $58.74 on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $36.40 and a 1 year high of $59.13. 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 stock has a market cap of $207.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.68.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is 29.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,623,044,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 38,197,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,560,755,000 after acquiring an additional 129,300 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 263,176 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 129,312.1% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,287,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,085,410,000 after buying an additional 26,267,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 25,640,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,262,043,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,817 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.