Short Interest in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Decreases By 20.2%

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 30,060,000 shares, a decrease of 20.2% from the December 15th total of 37,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 17,180,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the subject of several research reports. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Compass Point boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.92.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 5.1 %

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $3.64 on Wednesday, hitting $74.83. 10,263,125 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,059,304. 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 company has a market cap of $249.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.15. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $46.12 and a 52 week high of $78.13.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.26%.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 575,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,505,000 after purchasing an additional 11,037 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 37.2% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 638,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,055,000 after buying an additional 173,083 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 17.4% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 177,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,031,000 after buying an additional 26,320 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 132,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,504,000 after acquiring an additional 18,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argus Investors Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 31,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,780,000 after purchasing an additional 8,107 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.