Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Down 1.2%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price fell 1.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $40.23 and last traded at $40.27. 11,022,974 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 39,083,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on BAC. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $40.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.39. The company has a market cap of $319.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 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.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released 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 company had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,938,699 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.61, for a total value of $322,390,566.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 882,723,903 shares in the company, valued at $35,847,417,700.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,938,699 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.61, for a total transaction of $322,390,566.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 882,723,903 shares in the company, valued at $35,847,417,700.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,609,567 shares of company stock worth $4,122,483,669 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter worth $27,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.