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

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 88,948 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 103% compared to the typical volume of 43,799 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, September 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $107.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.47.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.5% in the second quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Services raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. MFA Wealth Services now owns 16,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% in the second quarter. Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Essex Bank grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.8% in the first quarter. Essex Bank now owns 16,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Five Oceans Advisors boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

More Wells Fargo & Company News

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $95 price target, implying substantial upside from recent trading levels. Morgan Stanley also recently upgraded WFC to Overweight and named it a top pick with a $102 target. TD Cowen Wells Fargo coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo is reportedly discussing a potential arrangement with Payward, the parent company of Kraken, to provide liquidity for crypto trading. Although no agreement has been confirmed, the initiative could broaden the bank’s digital-asset and wealth-management capabilities. Wells Fargo and Payward crypto liquidity discussions
• Positive Sentiment: WFC’s third-quarter earnings report is approaching, with analysts focused on revenue, net interest income, credit quality and other key operating metrics. A strong release could reinforce the stock’s valuation case after its recent reset. Wells Fargo third-quarter earnings preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Rising Treasury yields are creating competing effects for banks. Higher rates can support asset yields, but a rapid increase may pressure bond portfolios, funding costs and loan demand. The impact on WFC will depend on the pace and direction of rates. Banks under pressure from spiking yields
• Negative Sentiment: The Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to investigate Wells Fargo’s fair-lending compliance, including allegations that programs designed to increase Black and minority homeownership favored certain borrowers. The probe raises potential legal, regulatory, reputational and financial risks, reversing some of the optimism surrounding the bank’s progress with regulators. Wells Fargo HUD lending probe

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE WFC traded up $1.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $82.08. The company had a trading volume of 13,119,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,939,268. The stock has a market cap of $248.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $72.78 and a 52-week high of $97.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.15.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $22.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.86 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 17.55%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified financial services company that provides banking, lending, investment, and wealth management services to individuals, businesses, institutions, and government entities. Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, personal and commercial loans, mortgages, payment services, and other deposit and credit products.

The company also provides investment banking, capital markets, brokerage, advisory, asset management, and retirement services through its corporate and investment banking and wealth and investment management businesses.