Traders Purchase High Volume of Wells Fargo & Company Put Options (NYSE:WFC)

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 108,090 put options on the company. This is an increase of 99% compared to the typical volume of 54,282 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $99.00 to $99.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $102.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.71.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

NYSE WFC traded up $0.11 on Thursday, hitting $76.30. The stock had a trading volume of 18,236,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,355,383. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.54 and a 200-day moving average of $86.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $58.42 and a 52-week high of $97.76. The company has a market capitalization of $235.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 28.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kleber Santos sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.72, for a total transaction of $2,193,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 79,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,006,722.72. This represents a 23.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ellen R. Patterson sold 60,000 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total value of $5,244,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 169,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,813,950.40. This trade represents a 26.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 115,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,050,000 over the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Navalign LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Wells Fargo & Company

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

• Positive Sentiment: Senator Mitch McConnell disclosed a purchase of WFC shares, a politically notable buy that can provide short‑term positive sentiment and flows into the stock. Congress Trade: Senator Mitch McConnell Just Disclosed New Stock Trades
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo’s FiNet channel recruited advisory teams that brought roughly $1.2B in client assets, a tangible AUM win that supports fee income and distribution growth. Wells Fargo’s FiNet Recruits Advisory Teams from UBS, Commonwealth, and Stifel
• Positive Sentiment: Recent dividend‑focused pieces from Yahoo/Zacks highlight WFC as an attractive income name, which can draw yield‑seeking investors given its payout and valuation metrics. Wells Fargo (WFC) Could Be a Great Choice
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo launched a national housing affordability challenge allocating $10M in grants—a reputational/CSR initiative that may support community lending relationships over time. Wells Fargo Launches National Challenge to Uncover Innovative Housing Solutions
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo filed a trademark for “WFUSD” (a proposed stablecoin), signaling exploration into digital‑asset use cases; strategic upside is speculative and will depend on regulatory/rollout progress. Wells Fargo WFUSD Stablecoin Filing Meets Weak Share Momentum And Valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo’s research team started coverage of SoFi (SOFI) at Equal Weight; this is a brokerage action that affected SoFi’s price but is neutral for WFC’s fundamentals. Wells Fargo starts SoFi Technologies at Equal Weight on valuation, loan sale risk
• Negative Sentiment: The Fed held rates and signaled higher inflation, prompting downgrades/weakness across major banks; that macro tone pressures net interest margin and trading trends for lenders including WFC. Fed Keeps Rates Steady Amid Rising Inflation: What it Means for Banks
• Negative Sentiment: Truist lowered its expectations for WFC’s share price, and another update designating a new Series GG preferred stock could be viewed as capital‑structure activity that investors will watch for potential implications to common equity. Truist Financial Has Lowered Expectations for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Stock Price Wells Fargo Establishes New Series GG Preferred Stock

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.