Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has been upgraded from a "sell" to a "hold" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen, with other analysts also maintaining a "hold" rating.
• The firm's shares are currently trading at approximately $79.07, with a market capitalization of $253.29 billion and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Wells Fargo announced a $40 billion share buyback program, indicating that the board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on WFC. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. 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 objective on the stock. Evercore ISI reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.58.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of WFC opened at $79.0680 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $79.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $50.22 and a 1-year high of $84.83.

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

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 25,436 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 101,463 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,127,000 after acquiring an additional 4,748 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $1,068,000. Capital Analysts LLC grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 23.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 3,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 50,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,517,000 after acquiring an additional 6,099 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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