Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Trading Down 8.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)’s stock price dropped 8.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $73.50. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company traded as low as $65.91 and last traded at $66.09. Approximately 9,175,152 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 17,079,163 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.26.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on WFC. Compass Point raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. 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 note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of 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 note on Thursday, March 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.55.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 7.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $218.34 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.50 and a 200 day moving average of $70.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

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.