Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

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

BAC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.27.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.0 %

Bank of America stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $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 market capitalization of $306.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.09. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $44.44.

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

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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 reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related 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 value of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 147,650,481 shares of company stock worth $6,050,547,676. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. McAdam LLC lifted 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 worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $805,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings 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 valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 94,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,742,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

About Bank of America

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.