Morgan Stanley Trims Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Target Price to $47.00

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $49.00 to $47.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 18.33% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on BAC. 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. Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.12.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock traded up $0.32 on Monday, reaching $39.72. 10,492,416 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,172,641. The stock has a market cap of $310.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.04. Bank of America has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $44.44. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,942,405 shares of company stock worth $5,785,202,516 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of America by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 360.9% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 37,290,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,255,514,000 after buying an additional 29,198,846 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,502,720,000 after buying an additional 9,879,524 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,948,000 after acquiring an additional 8,447,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $261,923,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.