Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) released its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.10, Briefing.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The company had revenue of $20.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $56.47 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $54.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.32. The stock has a market cap of $199.93 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $36.40 and a fifty-two week high of $58.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 29.23%.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $2,623,044,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 38,197,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,560,755,000 after purchasing an additional 129,300 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 26,319,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,295,459,000 after purchasing an additional 263,176 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 129,312.1% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,287,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,085,410,000 after purchasing an additional 26,267,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 25,640,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,262,043,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,817 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WFC shares. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price target (up from $57.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $54.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.37.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.