Short Sellers Make Big Changes in Largest Bank Stocks

This review covers the short interest as of the February 28 settlement date. We have compared the short interest to the prior February 14 settlement date, and we have also added color on each of the five majors here.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) saw its short interest rise handily, up to 154.7 million shares as of February 28 from 110.3 million as of February 14. The rise in the short interest may have actually contributed to the March rally in Bank of America shares, as short sellers would have felt a short squeeze as the stock chugged higher from $16.30 to $17.60.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) saw its short interest rise to 40.79 million shares as of February 28 from 38.4 million shares short as of February 14. Shares have been somewhat directionless over the past month.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) saw its short interest fall to 5.93 million shares as of February 28 from 7.164 million as of February 14. While this short interest is low on a nominal basis, this is the lowest short interest reading going back to last August. It looks like the short sellers got out of the way as shares rose from $165 to $174 before pulling back in recent days.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) saw a downtick that was too small to even notice — down to 41.083 million shares as of February 28 versus 41.432 million shares short as of February 14. The short interest in this bank remains somewhat directionless as nothing unusual stands out.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) saw a major drop in its short interest to 34.099 million shares short as of February 28, versus 43.143 million shares short as of February 14.