Evercore ISI Boosts Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target to $71.00

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its price objective raised by Evercore ISI from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on WFC. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wolfe Research raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.82.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on WFC

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of WFC stock opened at $64.38 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.45 billion, a PE ratio of 13.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $38.58 and a fifty-two week high of $64.71.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 32.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,853,327.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,853,327.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,957. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,848,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,178,591,000 after purchasing an additional 831,975 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,226,000 after buying an additional 2,349,595 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 5,278,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $313,500,000 after buying an additional 108,480 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 38.1% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,131,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,411,000 after buying an additional 1,415,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,662,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,035,000 after buying an additional 48,419 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

About Wells Fargo & Company

(Get Free Report)

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.

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