Brokerages Set Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Price Target at $41.92

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.92.

Several research analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $42.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $329.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.14. Bank of America has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 33.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,753,983 shares of company stock valued at $1,588,489,324. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. McAdam LLC increased its stake 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 worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Bank of America by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, Nvest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.9% in the second quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.