Wells Fargo & Company’s (WFC) Sector Perform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their sector perform rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $61.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.82.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $63.86 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.04 and a 200 day moving average of $57.90. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $38.58 and a 1 year high of $64.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.40 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 32.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wells Fargo & Company

In related news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,421,957. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at $10,421,957. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Secure Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 68,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,865,000 after buying an additional 6,367 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 59,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,381,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.7% during the third quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 11,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 46.3% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.