Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Up 0.3%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) was up 0.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $39.09 and last traded at $38.90. Approximately 4,409,279 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 39,212,270 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler 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 research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $298.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.64.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383. Corporate 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. American Trust lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 10,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter worth approximately $875,000. Lazari Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Bank of America by 1.3% in the second quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 104,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,368 shares during the period. Clear Rock Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% during the second quarter. Clear Rock Advisors LLC now owns 85,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth approximately $1,589,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.