Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Stock

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

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on WFC. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on 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. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.55.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE WFC opened at $62.11 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $74.62 and its 200-day moving average is $70.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $81.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors 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 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Zacks Investment Management increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.3% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 15,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 142,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,054,000 after buying an additional 3,539 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,343,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,892,000 after buying an additional 75,528 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $3,266,000. Finally, SGL Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter worth $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.