Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) Lowered to Sell at BidaskClub

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was downgraded by stock analysts at BidaskClub from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. Instinet reissued a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Buckingham Research reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 price target (up from $60.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Zacks Investment Research raised Wells Fargo & from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & in a research note on Monday, July 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.06.

Shares of Wells Fargo & (NYSE:WFC) traded down 1.04% during trading on Wednesday, hitting $54.31. The company had a trading volume of 3,784,905 shares. Wells Fargo & has a 52 week low of $43.55 and a 52 week high of $59.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $54.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.16. The company has a market capitalization of $269.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 0.96.

Wells Fargo & (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.05. Wells Fargo & had a return on equity of 12.65% and a net margin of 23.25%. The firm had revenue of $22.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Wells Fargo &’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & will post $4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 28th that permits the company to buyback $11.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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In other news, Director Ronald Sargent purchased 9,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $55.15 per share, for a total transaction of $499,107.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 81 shares in the company, valued at $4,467.15. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael J. Loughlin sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.16, for a total value of $1,043,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7 shares in the company, valued at approximately $365.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 231,278 shares of company stock worth $12,361,120. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dodge & Cox purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & during the fourth quarter valued at $3,942,119,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & during the fourth quarter valued at $2,800,566,000. Davis Selected Advisers increased its stake in Wells Fargo & by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 26,425,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,456,320,000 after buying an additional 232,344 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P increased its stake in Wells Fargo & by 1.2% in the first quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 23,796,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,324,492,000 after buying an additional 286,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Wells Fargo & by 3.0% in the first quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,311,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $796,596,000 after buying an additional 423,113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.89% of the company’s stock.

About Wells Fargo &

Wells Fargo & Company is a bank holding company. The Company is a diversified financial services company. It has three operating segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management. The Company offers its services under three categories: personal, small business and commercial.