Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Trading Down 2.7% - What's Next?

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) traded down 2.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $59.56 and last traded at $60.42. 7,717,550 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 17,366,220 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America cut their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.66.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.87. The company has a market cap of $203.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,411,992,000 after buying an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,430,742,000 after buying an additional 238,131 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,105,218,000 after buying an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $977,338,000 after buying an additional 62,099 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.