Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading 0.1% Higher

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s share price shot up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $38.91 and last traded at $38.79. 6,364,079 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 38,987,293 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Cfra reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.07.

Bank of America Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $311.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.02.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,768,513 shares of company stock valued at $2,807,216,504 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Bank of America by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $3,734,407,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Bank of America by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,288,347,000 after purchasing an additional 895,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,833,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,056 shares during the last quarter. 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.