Wells Fargo shares close little changed on Thursday, bank to collaborate with Plaid over data exchange

Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) said on Thursday that it would collaborate with data platform Plaid over data exchange.

As a result of the agreement, clients of Wells Fargo will be enabled to conveniently and more securely share their financial information with the digital financial tools and services, supported by Plaid, through the use of an application-programming interface (API).

Wells Fargo shares closed lower for the fifth time in the past twelve trading sessions in New York on Thursday. The stock inched down 0.04% ($0.02) to $48.91, after touching an intraday high at $49.30, or a price level not seen since September 13th ($49.36).

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company have risen 6.14% so far in 2019 compared with a 19.94% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Wells Fargo’s stock went down 24.05%, thus, it again underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

Under the agreement, clients of Wells Fargo will be granted greater control over the bank account information they provide to Plaid-supported apps. This also includes the ability to turn on or off data sharing via Wells Fargo’s Control Tower digital experience, the two companies said.

The application-programming interface, employed in the agreement, will ensure a more secure, tokenized “handshake” between Wells Fargo and Plaid servers, through which financial data of customers will be shared. The API will enable clients to share their financial information and will also keep their user credentials’ privacy.

“We want to be where our customers are,” Ben Soccorsy, head of digital payments for Wells Fargo Virtual Channels, said in a statement.

“And if customers want to share their Wells Fargo account information with a Plaid-supported app to help them better manage their finances, we want to enable them to do so seamlessly and more securely. Our agreement with Plaid, a leading data platform for many financial management apps, will help our customers share their financial data with these apps with greater control and transparency,” he added.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 24 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Wells Fargo’s stock price, have a median target of $47.00 with a high estimate of $59.00 and a low estimate of $42.00. The median estimate represents a 3.91% downside compared to the closing price of $48.91 on September 19th.

The same media also reported that at least 18 out of 28 surveyed investment analysts had rated Wells Fargo’s stock as “Hold”, while 4 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 3 analysts had recommended selling the stock.