Wall Street Zen Downgrades Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to Sell

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. HSBC raised their price target on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Seaport Global Securities boosted their price target on Bank of America from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.59.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC stock opened at $55.94 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.68. Bank of America has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $56.54. The stock has a market cap of $408.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.24 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 6,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares during the period. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $58,000. AIA Group Ltd increased its position in Bank of America by 61.2% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 394,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,345,000 after buying an additional 149,652 shares during the period. Finally, Keel Point LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.4% during the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 44,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,308,000 after buying an additional 1,052 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.