Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.92.

Several analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Bank of America from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.4 %

Bank of America stock opened at $45.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $349.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.55, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $31.27 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.56.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis 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 37.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $465,811,996.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 835,908,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,088,345,979.30. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 51,257,719 shares of company stock valued at $2,075,524,660. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 839.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Bank of America by 525.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. 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.