Evercore ISI Raises Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target to $77.00

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its target price hoisted by Evercore ISI from $71.00 to $77.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WFC. Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and raised their price target for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.12.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC stock opened at $65.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.44. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $39.24 and a 52-week high of $66.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In related news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,421,957. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,848,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,178,591,000 after purchasing an additional 831,975 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,789,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $383,532,000 after purchasing an additional 897,195 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,226,000 after buying an additional 2,349,595 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 5,278,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,500,000 after buying an additional 108,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 38.1% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,131,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $297,411,000 after buying an additional 1,415,647 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.