Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Short Interest Update

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 29,710,000 shares, a drop of 16.1% from the March 15th total of 35,410,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 17,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WFC. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.34.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 190,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,369,000 after acquiring an additional 30,510 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. NatWest Group plc lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 172,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,115,000 after buying an additional 63,102 shares in the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $1,656,000. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE WFC traded down $0.45 on Monday, reaching $64.26. The stock had a trading volume of 2,737,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,459,475. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $209.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $50.15 and a 1 year high of $81.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.27.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 28.73%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.