Phillip Securities Upgrades Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) to "Strong-Buy"

Key Points

• Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo to a "Strong-Buy" from "Moderate Buy," though the Street consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $97.53 (2 Strong Buy, 14 Buy, 10 Hold).
• Wells Fargo slightly beat quarterly EPS expectations ($1.60 vs. $1.58) and reported revenue up 6.4% year-over-year; the stock trades around $79 with a market cap of $242.1B and a P/E of 12.21.
• Insiders have sold about 115,000 shares (~$10.05M) in the last 90 days, while large institutions like Norges Bank made sizable purchases, leaving institutional ownership at roughly 75.9%.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Phillip Securities from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on WFC. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. HSBC raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $91.00 to $86.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.53.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFC opened at $79.11 on Thursday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $80.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.96. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $71.89 and a one year high of $97.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.85 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In related news, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total transaction of $5,244,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 169,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,813,950.40. This trade represents a 26.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bridget E. Engle sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total transaction of $2,613,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 83,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,270,933.80. This represents a 26.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 115,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,050,000. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $4,512,563,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 37,421,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,487,687,000 after buying an additional 1,760,484 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,197,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,975,600,000 after buying an additional 188,186 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 20,625,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,922,257,000 after buying an additional 2,369,260 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,859,680 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,496,998,000 after buying an additional 1,223,999 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.

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