Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Earns "Overweight" Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $85.00 target price on the financial services provider's stock, up from their previous target price of $75.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.48.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.7%

WFC traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.88. 20,123,252 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,520,928. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $81.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $70.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.94.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 585.5% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Motco increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.