Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Up 1.1% – Here’s Why

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s share price was up 1.1% on Monday . The company traded as high as $42.40 and last traded at $42.35. Approximately 5,020,390 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 38,479,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on BAC. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.69.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.2 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $330.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total value of $203,776,317.99. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 937,246,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,843,142,343.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,078,718 shares of company stock worth $4,548,920,425 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BAC. McAdam LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Integrity Financial Corp WA increased its holdings in Bank of America by 1.6% during the third quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 14,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Bank of America by 15.1% in the second quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, SNS Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 3.3% in the second quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 248 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.