Brokerages Set Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target at $59.63

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.29.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WFC shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Slagle Financial LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 138,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,822,000 after purchasing an additional 68,356 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.4% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 35,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 152,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,805,000 after acquiring an additional 21,496 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 41,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,031,000 after acquiring an additional 15,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Global Investment Management Co. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacific Global Investment Management Co. now owns 13,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $54.01 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $57.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.88. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $38.38 and a one year high of $62.55. The firm has a market cap of $188.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.85%.

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.