Traders Buy Large Volume of Wells Fargo & Company Call Options (NYSE:WFC)

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 158,210 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 123% compared to the average daily volume of 70,902 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.7 %

WFC traded up $1.40 on Thursday, reaching $81.45. 11,693,850 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,810,402. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $271.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.16. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $47.45 and a one year high of $81.40.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.