Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Receives $42.22 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.22.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BAC. Barclays increased their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $39.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.25 and its 200-day moving average is $38.64. Bank of America has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $44.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $304.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $3,734,407,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in Bank of America by 360.9% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 37,290,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,255,514,000 after purchasing an additional 29,198,846 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Bank of America by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Bank of America by 959.6% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,948,000 after buying an additional 8,447,091 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.