Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading 1.2% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price was up 1.2% on Tuesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $56.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as high as $42.00 and last traded at $41.82. Approximately 4,198,919 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 38,213,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.33.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.97.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock valued at $4,548,518,070. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after buying an additional 20,916 shares in the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $771,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 37.7% during the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,163,000 after buying an additional 14,901 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in Bank of America by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 196,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,628,000 after buying an additional 20,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Bank of America by 39.7% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 9,941,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,381,000 after acquiring an additional 2,827,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 8.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $348.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.