Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Down 2.7% – Time to Sell?

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) dropped 2.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $59.56 and last traded at $60.42. Approximately 7,717,550 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 17,366,220 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.08.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $77.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.66.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

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 50 day simple moving average of $73.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.81. The company has a market cap of $203.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.6% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 53,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,881 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Impact Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.9% in the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after buying an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.