Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on BAC. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.62.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $42.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Bank of America has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $44.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $39.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.38. The stock has a market cap of $333.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,633,120 shares of company stock valued at $5,862,871,640 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at about $409,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 11.6% during the first quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 1,565 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 19.4% during the first quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 8,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Collective Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 22.2% during the first quarter. Collective Family Office LLC now owns 7,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 1,445 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in Bank of America by 30.0% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 86,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,287,000 after purchasing an additional 20,021 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.