Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Up 6.9% on Analyst Upgrade

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price was up 6.9% on Wednesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $56.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as high as $45.45 and last traded at $44.77. Approximately 36,316,191 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 38,332,059 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.88.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BAC. BMO Capital Markets increased 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 report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.97.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 29,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 19.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 487,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,491,000 after buying an additional 79,771 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 15.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 198,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,534,000 after buying an additional 26,994 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $583,000. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 67,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,556,000 after acquiring an additional 8,094 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $343.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.96. 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 results 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Bank of America

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.