The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target to $65.00

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its target price trimmed by The Goldman Sachs Group from $68.00 to $65.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on WFC. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Wells Fargo & Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Twelve equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 2.3 %

WFC opened at $52.78 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $56.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $179.65 billion, a PE ratio of 10.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $38.38 and a 52 week high of $62.55.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 32.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $223,000. Creekside Partners acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $566,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth $26,000. RiverFront Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth $6,927,000. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth $414,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

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.