Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Down 0.2%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s share price was down 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $40.32 and last traded at $40.40. Approximately 7,124,489 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 39,115,910 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.9 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.30 and a 200 day moving average of $38.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $313.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sold 99,607,967 shares of company stock worth $4,122,466,245 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 402.2% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at $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.