Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Bank of America Call Options (NYSE:BAC)

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 196,083 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 28% compared to the average volume of 153,009 call options.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.2 %

Bank of America stock opened at $47.00 on Friday. Bank of America has a one year low of $29.32 and a one year high of $47.22. The company has a market cap of $360.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $42.24 and a 200-day moving average of $40.65.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 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 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BAC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total value of $437,573,568.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 910,731,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,310,871,244.33. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,094,698 shares of company stock valued at $3,876,350,805 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at $488,000. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $645,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 4.3% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 2.3% during the third quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 16,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,011,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.