Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Up 1.3% - Should You Buy?

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) shares were up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $81.10 and last traded at $80.50. Approximately 4,798,024 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 17,220,995 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WFC. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.98.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

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 50 day moving average of $73.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.08. The firm has a market cap of $260.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.19% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is presently 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 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the fourth 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 raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% during 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 lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in 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 acquiring 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 worth $977,338,000 after acquiring 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 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.