Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Up 4.2% - Should You Buy?

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)'s share price was up 4.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $69.50 and last traded at $69.02. Approximately 6,892,961 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 17,461,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WFC. Citigroup dropped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America reduced 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 report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.34.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 3.4 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.28. 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 firm has a market cap of $223.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $487,000. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at $468,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.5% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 15,903 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $898,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1,263.8% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 75,432 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,261,000 after buying an additional 69,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 138,813 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,842,000 after buying an additional 5,946 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.