Wells Fargo & Company Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:WFC)

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 112,469 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 71% compared to the typical daily volume of 65,582 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. 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 research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC traded down $3.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $73.65. 16,850,300 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,558,191. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.11. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.74%.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

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.