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

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its price objective decreased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $68.00 to $65.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Wells Fargo & Company to a hold rating and cut their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Wells Fargo & Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $60.29.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC stock opened at $52.78 on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $38.38 and a 52-week high of $62.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WFC. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.