Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Raised to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:WFC opened at $80.64 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.21. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.15 and a 52 week high of $83.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $262.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.81, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter worth $408,000. RKL Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 166.4% during the first quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 5,113 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 651,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,783,000 after buying an additional 70,104 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter worth $215,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 30.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,926,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,668,000 after buying an additional 1,152,181 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.