Truist Financial Begins Coverage on Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)

Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $52.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Bank of America from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.50.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $46.10 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.09. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $31.27 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The company has a market cap of $353.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was 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 approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 0.6% in the third quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 37,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 20,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $828,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% during the third quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 14,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% during the third quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 12,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.8% in the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 13,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently 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.