Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target Increased to $68.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its price objective upped by Evercore ISI from $65.00 to $68.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. 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 research note on Monday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a hold rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $60.41.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:WFC opened at $56.96 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.76. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $38.58 and a twelve month high of $62.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 26,319,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,295,459,000 after acquiring an additional 263,176 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,848,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,178,591,000 after purchasing an additional 831,975 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,349,595 shares during the period. First Pacific Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% in the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 5,278,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $313,500,000 after purchasing an additional 108,480 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 38.1% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,131,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,647 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.