Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Up 1.9%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s share price was up 1.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $38.09 and last traded at $38.01. Approximately 7,628,074 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 39,514,059 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Cfra reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.07.

Bank of America Price Performance

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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $299.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. Bank of America’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign 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 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,549,666 shares of company stock valued at $2,403,801,723 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% during the first 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 period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.