The Goldman Sachs Group Raises Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target to $65.00

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its price target lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $57.00 to $65.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $54.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, HSBC boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $56.68.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $57.13 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.47. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $36.27 and a 1-year high of $58.44. The firm has a market cap of $202.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.30 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 16.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 4.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WFC. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 208.0% during the 4th quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 528,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 356,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.