Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Up 0.2% After Dividend Announcement

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shot up 0.2% during trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $43.00 and last traded at $42.88. 8,674,896 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 38,788,676 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.80.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.62.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.4 %

The business’s 50-day moving average is $39.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.38. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $333.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,349,021 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.41, for a total transaction of $269,261,980.61. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 992,612,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,096,677,379.78. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,349,021 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.41, for a total transaction of $269,261,980.61. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 992,612,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,096,677,379.78. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 144,633,120 shares of company stock worth $5,862,871,640. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.