Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Down 3.4% – Here’s What Happened

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) fell 3.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $63.08 and last traded at $64.06. 6,213,249 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 17,486,361 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WFC. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.66.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $72.83 and a 200 day moving average of $70.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $203.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The company’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spinnaker Trust grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 7,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $972,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% in the 4th 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 lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.4% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Crown Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.