JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Price Target to $61.50

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its price objective increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $59.00 to $61.50 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a market perform rating and issued a $62.00 target price (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Odeon Capital Group downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $48.80 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $58.99.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $59.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $212.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $36.40 and a one year high of $61.76. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $57.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.10.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.19 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 29.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fruth Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.2% during the first quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 6,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,122,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 10,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 4,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 20,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $998,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.