Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Up 0.8% – What’s Next?

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares traded up 0.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $46.23 and last traded at $46.22. 9,160,896 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 38,602,023 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.69.

Bank of America Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $352.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. Bank of America’s dividend 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 buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total transaction of $199,638,463.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 928,460,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,813,476,231.35. The trade was a 0.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 107,883,988 shares of company stock valued at $4,344,741,752 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in Bank of America by 237.6% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 36,089 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 125.8% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,421,000 after buying an additional 33,983 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after acquiring an additional 20,916 shares during the period. Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $771,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 37.7% during the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,163,000 after acquiring an additional 14,901 shares during the period. 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.