Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Down 1.1% After Analyst Downgrade

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s share price was down 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Argus lowered their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $47.00. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as low as $37.42 and last traded at $37.59. Approximately 13,916,215 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 39,295,327 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.99.

BAC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Bank of America by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,876,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Bank of America by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,381,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Bank of America by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,747,658,000 after purchasing an additional 10,231,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Bank of America by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after purchasing an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $284.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.60.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

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.