Bank of America Cuts Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target to $83.00

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its price target lowered by Bank of America from $85.00 to $83.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on WFC. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.50.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE:WFC opened at $60.91 on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.15 and a 52 week high of $81.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.44. The company has a market capitalization of $198.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 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 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. The firm 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%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Spinnaker Trust lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 7,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crown Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.