Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Lifted to Accumulate at Phillip Securities

Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) from a neutral rating to an accumulate rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Phillip Securities currently has $65.00 target price on the financial services provider's stock, up from their prior target price of $60.83.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Wells Fargo & Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Wells Fargo & Company from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $61.82.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.4 %

WFC stock traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.03. The company had a trading volume of 24,681,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,081,809. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $219.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $38.58 and a fifty-two week high of $63.82.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The company had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.12 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is 32.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% during the 2nd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter worth $47,000. 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.