Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Upgraded to “Buy” by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has $45.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on BAC. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and raised their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Cfra reissued a sell rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of BAC opened at $40.71 on Tuesday. Bank of America has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $318.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a share buyback program 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 reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Bank of America 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 transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,609,567 shares of company stock valued at $4,122,483,669 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth $27,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.