Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target Raised to $77.00 at Evercore ISI

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Evercore ISI from $71.00 to $77.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Evercore ISI's target price points to a potential upside of 17.72% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on WFC. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "neutral" rating to an "accumulate" rating and upped their price target for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.12.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

WFC traded up $0.11 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $65.41. The stock had a trading volume of 14,370,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,041,844. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $222.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.39. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $39.24 and a one year high of $66.39.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,421,957. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,853,327.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,421,957. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $160,529,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 3,295.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,331,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $138,493,000 after buying an additional 2,404,898 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $339,226,000 after buying an additional 2,349,595 shares during the period. Rokos Capital Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 141.6% during the 1st quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 2,620,868 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $151,853,000 after buying an additional 1,536,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 38.1% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,131,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $297,411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415,647 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.