Boeing (NYSE:BA) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $113.00 to $111.00. The stock had previously closed at $159.28, but opened at $155.27. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Boeing shares last traded at $157.93, with a volume of 2,785,434 shares changing hands.

Several other research firms have also commented on BA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Boeing from $184.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised Boeing to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 5th. Citigroup increased their target price on Boeing from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Boeing from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of Boeing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boeing

In related news, EVP Uma M. Amuluru sold 3,159 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.69, for a total transaction of $570,799.71. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,471,596.97. The trade was a 14.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Boeing by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,442,717 shares of the aircraft producer’s stock worth $11,406,361,000 after buying an additional 12,641,715 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Boeing by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,171,869 shares of the aircraft producer’s stock worth $2,677,170,000 after acquiring an additional 3,452,075 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Boeing by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,504,610 shares of the aircraft producer’s stock worth $1,151,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634,231 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Boeing by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,030,899 shares of the aircraft producer’s stock valued at $890,469,000 after purchasing an additional 164,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Boeing by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,178,444 shares of the aircraft producer’s stock worth $739,585,000 after purchasing an additional 981,796 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.82% of the company’s stock.

Boeing Stock Down 0.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $118.95 billion, a PE ratio of -8.66 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $168.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.02.

Boeing (NYSE:BA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The aircraft producer reported ($5.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.60) by ($4.30). During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.47) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Boeing Company will post -2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

About Boeing

The Boeing Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, sells, services, and supports commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight and launch systems, and services worldwide. The company operates through Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space & Security; and Global Services segments.