Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Rating Upgraded by HSBC

HSBC upgraded shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. HSBC currently has $50.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on BAC. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Bank of America from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Bank of America from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.50.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $46.21 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.15. Bank of America has a twelve month low of $31.27 and a twelve month high of $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $354.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,546,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,141 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Bank of America by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,288,347,000 after purchasing an additional 895,884 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,215,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,794,164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,003 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,341,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $886,499,000 after purchasing an additional 601,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of America by 0.4% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $676,264,000 after acquiring an additional 59,853 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.