Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $77.98.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WFC. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $2,411,992,000 after buying an additional 3,307,855 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew 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 valued at $1,105,218,000 after buying an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% during 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 buying an additional 62,099 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $79.42 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $73.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $258.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 1.33 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.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. The firm 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 16.19% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, 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 repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.73%.

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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