Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 29.48% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $102.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $113.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Friday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.98.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $77.23 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $238.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $84.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.22. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $58.42 and a 52 week high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $21.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.63 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. Research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total transaction of $5,244,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 169,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,813,950.40. This represents a 26.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bridget E. Engle sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total value of $2,613,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 83,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,270,933.80. This represents a 26.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 115,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,050,000 over the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,652,000 after buying an additional 25,436 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the period. Richmond Investment Services LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 129.0% in the 2nd quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 6,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 3,618 shares during the last quarter. Country Trust Bank increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 37.3% during the 2nd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 1,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,131,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Wells Fargo & Company News

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies initiated coverage of WFC with a buy/strong‑buy stance and a ~$100 price target, providing a near‑term analyst endorsement that can support the stock. Jefferies initiates coverage of Wells Fargo with buy
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo announced digital milestones — Fargo® virtual assistant exceeding 1 billion interactions and the mobile app topping 33 million active users — evidence of fee/data opportunities and customer engagement that investors view as a growth/efficiency tailwind. Wells Fargo Reaches Major Digital Milestones
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo research is active and bullish on large tech themes (e.g., Nvidia data‑center TAM and a bullish take on Alphabet), which signals a healthy research franchise and potential trading/prime brokerage revenue but is indirect for WFC’s own fundamentals. Nvidia Targets $1 Trillion in Data Center Revenue — Wells Fargo Sees 20% Upside
• Neutral Sentiment: For income-oriented investors, comparisons of WFC preferred series (WFC‑D vs WFC‑Y) highlight attractive yields and coverage metrics on certain series — a side-topic that may support buy interest from dividend/preferred buyers even when the common stock is volatile. WFC-D Vs. WFC-Y: Comparing Coupon Extremes
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical risk from the Iran conflict is keeping markets jittery; strategists note pullbacks in major indices as oil and inflation risks rise — a macro headwind that often pressures bank shares like WFC. Wall Street Says Stocks Are Too Cheap to Ignore as War Rages On
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo reduced price targets on certain enterprise names (e.g., Gartner) citing the Iran conflict’s hit to enterprise spending — an example of analyst downgrades that reflect weak near‑term IT spend and could depress trading/loan pipelines for banks if corporate capex retrenches. Gartner Price Target Lowered to $140 by Wells Fargo

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.