Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Given New $82.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) had its target price upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $72.00 to $82.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 10.32% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on WFC. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.47.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

NYSE WFC opened at $74.33 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.79. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $44.65 and a 12-month high of $78.13. The firm has a market cap of $247.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 14.43%. The company had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,421,957. The trade was a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WFC. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,375,000 after buying an additional 5,237,500 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $160,529,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3,295.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,331,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,493,000 after acquiring an additional 2,404,898 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 158.1% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,709,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,659,716 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 15.2% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,789,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,532,000 after purchasing an additional 897,195 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

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.