Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its price objective increased by Citigroup from $67.00 to $82.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on WFC. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.07.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded down $0.66 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $73.43. 15,368,670 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,115,592. The stock's fifty day moving average is $61.95 and its 200 day moving average is $59.49. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $42.15 and a 12 month high of $74.70. The stock has a market cap of $244.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 33.26%.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In other news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,421,957. The trade was a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Income Research & Management bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at $211,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.