Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Upgraded at HSBC

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was upgraded by HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $50.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. HSBC’s price target suggests a potential upside of 8.20% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Bank of America from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.50.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.3 %

BAC stock opened at $46.21 on Tuesday. Bank of America has a fifty-two week low of $31.27 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08. The company has a market capitalization of $354.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $45.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business 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 company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 37.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 559,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,257,000 after buying an additional 151,864 shares in the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $234,000. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of America by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 11,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 52,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 44.7% during the 2nd quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 39,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 12,064 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.