Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $65.97 and last traded at $65.87, with a volume of 1442011 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on 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. Compass Point raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.12.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.44. The firm has a market cap of $222.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The company had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.26%.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter worth $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% during the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 704.3% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

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.