Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)’s share price dropped 4% on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $68.00 to $65.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company traded as low as $50.22 and last traded at $51.56. Approximately 16,168,614 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 9% from the average daily volume of 17,822,045 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.73.
Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on WFC. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.29.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% in the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance
The stock has a market cap of $179.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.74 and a 200-day moving average of $57.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.