Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Up 0.3% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) were up 0.3% on Monday . The company traded as high as $40.43 and last traded at $40.25. Approximately 6,237,329 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 38,886,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.27.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.0 %

The company has a market cap of $312.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 156,918,857 shares of company stock worth $6,421,694,213. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 70.71% of the stock is 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.