Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.16 EPS

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. Wells Fargo & Company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.20 EPS.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $1.76 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $64.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,970,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,609,418. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.15 and a 52 week high of $81.50. The business's 50-day moving average price is $72.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.02. The firm has a market cap of $211.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 62.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 66,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,436 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $4,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.88.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.