Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Receives $62.12 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-one analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.12.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WFC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced 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 report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, October 14th.

Insider Transactions at Wells Fargo & Company

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

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Investors Research Corp lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 13,461 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.9% in the third quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 4,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Income Research & Management bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% during the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.7% in the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 9,886 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC traded up $1.54 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $74.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,836,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,126,145. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.14. 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 50 day moving average price of $61.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.30. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $41.99 and a 12-month high of $74.41.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. Wells Fargo & Company's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 33.26%.

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.