Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Up 0.4% – Here’s Why

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares rose 0.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $43.06 and last traded at $43.01. Approximately 7,422,238 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 35,729,078 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Baird R W upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Hsbc Global Res raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.45.

Bank of America Trading Down 3.1 %

The business’s 50-day moving average is $44.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $313.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,243,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,229 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Bank of America by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,381,126,000 after buying an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,876,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,985,785,000 after acquiring an additional 9,980,859 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently 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.