I'm a former project manager who did work for a major banks compliance team, that same bank had an equity research division as well and so i can shed some light

I'm a former project manager who did work for a major banks compliance team, that same bank had an equity research division as well and so i can shed some light here for you. One of the biggest concerns is what you are doing in private vs what you are doing publicly. So lets say "Big Bank" says "we recommend XYZ with a target price of $19.99 by end of year, our recommendation is BUY" On the surface there is no issues with this, but lets say "BIG BANK" is LONG a million shares of XYZ.. Now you have a potential issue. You are telling your clients to BUY (upward pressure on the stock) while you have a big bet that the stock will go up. In the industry we refer to this as "talking your book" https://www.yourdictionary.com/talking-one-s-book https://www.yourdictionary.com/talking-one-s-book Over the years the rules have tighten when it comes to equity research and disclosing your position. Now to the issue with what took place here - The individuals advocating the stock, how were they compensated? What is their position on those stocks? Because this is UNCLEAR it is a violation of the SEC rules. Lastly, one thing still bothers me about equity research is the rare "Sell" recommendation. Very few equity research departments ever issue a "Sell" recommendation..