Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Down 0.3%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s share price fell 0.3% on Monday . The company traded as low as $40.15 and last traded at $40.15. 5,580,336 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 39,338,613 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.27.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $312.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.77, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.91.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 129,780,724 shares of company stock worth $5,342,589,705 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 10.5% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 100,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,004,000 after buying an additional 9,604 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 39.7% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 9,941,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,381,000 after purchasing an additional 2,827,700 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 129,944 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 46.0% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 21,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 6,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Trust boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.7% in the second quarter. American Trust now owns 10,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.