Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley to “Equal Weight”

Morgan Stanley cut shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $55.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $48.00.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on BAC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.92.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $45.93 on Monday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.87 and a 200-day moving average of $41.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $352.42 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America has a 52 week low of $30.45 and a 52 week high of $48.08.

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 return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,223,897 shares of company stock valued at $2,232,505,985. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Accent Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after buying an additional 11,873 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its position in Bank of America by 237.6% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,035,000 after acquiring an additional 36,089 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 125.8% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,421,000 after purchasing an additional 33,983 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 173.7% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 583,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,150,000 after purchasing an additional 370,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 647.7% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,823,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,579,767 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.