Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target Raised to $68.00 at Evercore ISI

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its target price lifted by Evercore ISI from $65.00 to $68.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on WFC. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a hold rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $60.41.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC stock traded down $0.09 on Wednesday, hitting $55.30. 9,001,991 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,077,082. The firm has a market cap of $192.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $38.38 and a 52 week high of $62.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The company's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

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.