Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Wells Fargo & Company Call Options (NYSE:WFC)

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 412,749 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 402% compared to the average volume of 82,301 call options.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $4,300,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $211,000. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter worth about $309,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,662,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,035,000 after buying an additional 48,419 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 86.6% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 528,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,653,000 after acquiring an additional 245,424 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. HSBC increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Odeon Capital Group downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $48.80 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.99.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $61.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $57.86 and its 200-day moving average is $50.62. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.18.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.19 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.23%.

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.