Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Down 10.5% After Analyst Downgrade

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s share price fell 10.5% during trading on Thursday 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 $37.32 and last traded at $37.45. 49,494,520 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 33% from the average session volume of 37,266,774 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.85.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on BAC. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Bank of America by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,940,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,168,000 after acquiring an additional 173,021 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,679,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,028,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,150,000 after purchasing an additional 10,377 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,458,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,006,000 after purchasing an additional 38,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,929,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,886,769,000 after purchasing an additional 297,858 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.88. The stock has a market cap of $261.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 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.