StockNews.com Lowers Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to Sell

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.27.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of BAC stock traded up $0.01 on Wednesday, hitting $39.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 23,288,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,150,520. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Bank of America has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 147,650,481 shares of company stock worth $6,050,547,676. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. McAdam LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 2.1% in the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 15.1% during the second quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.3% during the second quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 94,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,742,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.