Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Up 0.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

by · The Cerbat Gem

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $48.00 to $49.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as high as $39.54 and last traded at $39.28. 6,327,327 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 39,061,266 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.22.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on BAC. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Cfra reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.27.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Bank of America

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 147,650,481 shares of company stock worth $6,050,547,676. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. McAdam LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 2.1% in the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in Bank of America by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. SNS Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 94,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,742,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.0 %

The company has a market cap of $306.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.39 and a 200-day moving average of $39.10.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Bank of America

(Get Free Report)

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.

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