Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $94.37 and last traded at $94.2740, with a volume of 5101978 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.01.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.04.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $295.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s fifty day moving average is $86.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.41.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.11 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 25,436 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $155,000. Haverford Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 55,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,959,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 20,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter worth $1,772,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.