Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Up 2.5%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price was up 2.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $40.62 and last traded at $40.62. Approximately 8,862,339 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 39,080,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler Companies raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $315.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.86.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $465,811,996.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 835,908,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,088,345,979.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 129,780,724 shares of company stock valued at $5,342,589,705 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Bank of America by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,288,347,000 after buying an additional 895,884 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 40,508,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,363,928,000 after buying an additional 2,935,040 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,530,241,000 after buying an additional 165,070 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.