Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Upgraded by UBS Group to Buy Rating

UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $53.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $43.00.

BAC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered Bank of America from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Bank of America from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.50.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $46.10 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $45.30 and its 200 day moving average is $42.09. Bank of America has a 12-month low of $31.27 and a 12-month high of $48.08. 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 company has a market cap of $353.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in Bank of America by 31,021.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,049,000 after buying an additional 10,175,100 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,627,000 after buying an additional 5,749,567 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 193.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,015,378 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3,550.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,804,560,000 after acquiring an additional 4,423,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $174,858,000. 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.