Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Given New $68.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Bank of America from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Ameriprise Financial raised Bank of America to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Dbs Bank raised Bank of America to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (up previously from $57.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.86.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $55.14 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.45. Bank of America has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $55.30. The stock has a market cap of $402.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 15.70%.The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 25,143 shares during the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.2% in the first quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 39,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 259,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,847,000 after buying an additional 5,296 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 128,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,363,000 after buying an additional 2,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Bank of America by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 31,956,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,333,351,000 after buying an additional 188,638 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.