Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Stock Price

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on WFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Compass Point upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Bank of America lowered 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 report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.66.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 7.2 %

WFC stock opened at $66.52 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $73.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $217.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WFC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,411,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,855 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,369,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,430,742,000 after purchasing an additional 238,131 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,105,218,000 after buying an additional 14,210,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $977,338,000 after buying an additional 62,099 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.