Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Receives $45.92 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.92.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BAC. Barclays raised their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,835,159 shares of company stock valued at $1,609,712,663. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 839.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Bank of America by 525.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $43.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America has a twelve month low of $31.27 and a twelve month high of $48.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $44.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.62.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

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.