Compass Point Raises Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target to $60.00

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its price target lifted by Compass Point from $57.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WFC. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.82.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $64.37 on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $38.58 and a one year high of $64.78. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $56.50 and its 200-day moving average is $57.99. 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 $224.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WFC. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 169.1% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 18,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $930,000 after purchasing an additional 11,414 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $230,000. Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 14,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 261,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,176,000 after buying an additional 9,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 6,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.