Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their sector perform rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $61.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.82.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $63.86 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.90. The company has a market capitalization of $222.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $38.58 and a 1 year high of $64.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase 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 yield of 2.51%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% during the 2nd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% during the 1st quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

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.