Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Down 7.4% After Analyst Downgrade

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price traded down 7.4% on Friday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $50.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as low as $33.67 and last traded at $34.46. 34,012,220 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 9% from the average session volume of 37,531,304 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.22.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BAC. Baird R W raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Hsbc Global Res raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.31.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc raised its holdings in Bank of America by 3,883.2% in the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 545,936 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.74 and a 200-day moving average of $43.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $261.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

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.