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

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shot up 0.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $39.90 and last traded at $39.65. 6,105,431 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 39,209,668 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.52.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective 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 assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.3 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.02. The stock has a market cap of $308.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.63, a PEG ratio of 1.37 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 (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. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 yield of 2.64%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the 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 owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,942,405 shares of company stock valued at $5,785,202,516 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $2,175,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $3,601,000. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at $1,322,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 20,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster Group Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 19.4% during the first quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 8,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.