Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Upgraded to “Hold” by StockNews.com

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price target (up previously from $57.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $54.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.85.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $56.40 on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $36.40 and a fifty-two week high of $58.44. The stock has a market cap of $199.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.55.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The business had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lazari Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% during the first quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 10,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 4,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 20,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $998,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 6,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.