Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.85.

A number of brokerages have commented on WFC. Compass Point reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Odeon Capital Group cut Wells Fargo & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $48.80 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fruth Investment Management increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 6,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,122,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 10,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 4,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 20,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $998,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $59.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.84. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $36.40 and a one year high of $61.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $211.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. The company had revenue of $20.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.06 EPS for the current year.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.