JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target to $73.50

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its price objective cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $82.00 to $73.50 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

WFC has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. 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, Barclays increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.55.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 9.2 %

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $65.62 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $214.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $75.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.40.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

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.