Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Up 2.5%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price traded up 2.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $40.62 and last traded at $40.62. 8,862,339 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 39,080,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Up 3.5 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $320.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total transaction of $68,114,452.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 861,175,131 shares in the company, valued at $34,076,699,933.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total transaction of $68,114,452.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 861,175,131 shares in the company, valued at $34,076,699,933.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $2,175,000. IMA Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of America during the first quarter worth approximately $1,453,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 149.9% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 12,744 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 40,508,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,363,928,000 after purchasing an additional 2,935,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $3,601,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Bank of America

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.