Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Trading 0.5% Higher - Time to Buy?

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)'s stock price shot up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $70.85 and last traded at $71.01. 2,328,261 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 17,082,392 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Compass Point raised their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.55.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 9.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $75.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.43.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $20.38 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,365,658,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,105,218,000 after purchasing an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $336,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,237,500 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,411,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $198,801,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

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.