The Goldman Sachs Group Raises Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target to $86.00

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its target price boosted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $76.00 to $86.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on WFC. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.68.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC stock traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $74.95. The company had a trading volume of 13,348,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,490,579. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $243.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $81.50. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $70.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.97.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.73%.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,411,992,000 after buying an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,497,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,471,259,000 after buying an additional 128,207 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,105,218,000 after purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $977,338,000 after acquiring an additional 62,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

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.