Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.22.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 112,670,620 shares of company stock worth $4,651,681,930. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. McAdam LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% in the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% in the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 15.1% in the second quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.3% in the second quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 0.3% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 94,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,742,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $38.76 on Friday. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $44.44. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $303.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.52.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 35.99%.

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.