Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading 0.8% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) was up 0.8% on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $52.00 to $56.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as high as $46.38 and last traded at $46.28. Approximately 8,164,909 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 38,576,961 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.90.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on BAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total value of $268,752,482.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 921,706,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,674,708,279.93. This trade represents a 0.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 107,883,988 shares of company stock worth $4,344,741,752. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 31,021.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,049,000 after purchasing an additional 10,175,100 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,948,000 after buying an additional 8,447,091 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Bank of America by 1,432.1% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,627,000 after acquiring an additional 5,749,567 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Bank of America by 290.7% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 7,114,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $269,763,000 after acquiring an additional 5,293,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $358.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.33 and its 200 day moving average is $40.26.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.