Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Given New $56.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $56.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $46.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $358.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.64 and a 200-day moving average of $40.44. Bank of America has a 1-year low of $29.32 and a 1-year high of $47.02. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total transaction of $268,752,482.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 921,706,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,674,708,279.93. This represents a 0.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the second 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 period. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 1,489.3% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.