Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading 0.1% Higher

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares traded up 0.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $40.13 and last traded at $39.96. 5,702,439 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 39,047,621 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler Companies raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.07.

Bank of America Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $310.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.14.

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 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 company had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This is an increase 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 2.62%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’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 value of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’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 value of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,768,513 shares of company stock valued at $2,807,216,504. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 402.2% in 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. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 839.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.