Phillip Securities Upgrades Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to Accumulate

Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a neutral rating to an accumulate rating in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Phillip Securities currently has $44.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

BAC has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.69.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $41.76 on Friday. Bank of America has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $326.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $39.97 and its 200-day moving average is $39.47.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,526,661 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total value of $313,861,763.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 966,911,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,320,201,877.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,526,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total transaction of $313,861,763.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 966,911,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,320,201,877.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 138,284,099 shares of company stock worth $5,593,609,660 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors 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.