Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Rating Lowered to Moderate Buy at Phillip Securities

Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) from a strong-buy rating to a moderate buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on WFC. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:WFC traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $81.04. The stock had a trading volume of 7,427,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,420,063. The firm has a market cap of $263.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.24. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $50.15 and a twelve month high of $83.95.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The business had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is 27.40%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter valued at about $408,000. RKL Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 166.4% during the 1st quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 5,113 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 651,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,783,000 after purchasing an additional 70,104 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,926,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $353,668,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152,181 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.