Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Down 1.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) were down 1.1% during trading on Tuesday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a sell rating. The stock traded as low as $38.94 and last traded at $39.24. Approximately 6,940,153 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 39,132,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.68.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BAC. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 147,650,481 shares of company stock worth $6,050,547,676. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 3.2% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 13,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the period. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,902,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 100,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,004,000 after buying an additional 9,604 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 39.7% during the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 9,941,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $395,381,000 after buying an additional 2,827,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 35,120.0% during the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 130,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,183,000 after buying an additional 129,944 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.0 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $39.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $306.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

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

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.