Phillip Securities Upgrades Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) to “Accumulate”

19 Oct 2024, 06:56 by Mitch Edgeman · The Markets Daily

Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) from a neutral rating to an accumulate rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has $65.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $60.83.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Thirteen investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.82.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.0 %

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $64.37 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.99. The company has a market cap of $224.41 billion, a PE ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $38.58 and a 1-year high of $64.78.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The business had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, 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 value of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,421,957. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 3,295.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,331,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,493,000 after acquiring an additional 2,404,898 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,349,595 shares in the last quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 141.6% in the 1st quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 2,620,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,152 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings 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 worth $297,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,647 shares during the period. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 378.5% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,198,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,493,000 after purchasing an additional 948,422 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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