Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Upgraded by Phillip Securities to Accumulate

Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) from a neutral rating to an accumulate rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has $65.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $60.83.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a hold rating and lowered their target price for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $61.82.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $63.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $219.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $38.58 and a twelve month high of $63.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The business had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.12 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 32.85%.

Insider Transactions at Wells Fargo & Company

In related news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 575,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,505,000 after purchasing an additional 11,037 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 152,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,805,000 after acquiring an additional 21,496 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 28.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 473,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,441,000 after acquiring an additional 106,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 154.2% during the first quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,578,000 after acquiring an additional 16,515 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.