Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Receives $42.07 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.07.

Several brokerages recently commented on BAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $38.69 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $302.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. Bank of America has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of Bank of America 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,768,513 shares of company stock worth $2,807,216,504 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in Bank of America by 8.5% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 5,485,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $217,949,000 after buying an additional 427,474 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,490,000. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 74.7% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 17,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 7,345 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 47,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 17,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares during the period. 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.