Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.12.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "neutral" rating to an "accumulate" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Compass Point lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

Read Our Latest Report on WFC

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $74.34 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $41.99 and a 1-year high of $74.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $247.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.14. The business's 50 day moving average is $60.77 and its 200-day moving average is $59.20.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.40 billion. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.26%.

In related news, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $2,169,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.3% during the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 11,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.1% in the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 90,515 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 6,189 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 33.6% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 17,954 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 4,517 shares during the period. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter valued at about $267,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

Before you consider Wells Fargo & Company, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Wells Fargo & Company wasn't on the list.

While Wells Fargo & Company currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.