Morgan Stanley Increases Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Price Target to $46.00

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target upped by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $44.00 to $46.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 3.88% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on BAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.76.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.3 %

BAC traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $44.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 34,035,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,485,297. Bank of America has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $44.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.81 and its 200-day moving average is $36.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $346.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors 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.