Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Down 6.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) shares dropped 6.7% during trading on Friday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $86.00 to $84.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company traded as low as $59.71 and last traded at $61.27. Approximately 8,072,519 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 17,127,259 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.67.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup cut their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.66.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,430,742,000 after acquiring an additional 238,131 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $977,338,000 after acquiring an additional 62,099 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $206.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.72.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

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.