Oppenheimer Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its target price upped by Oppenheimer from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on BAC. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $46.54 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $357.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Bank of America has a 52-week low of $31.40 and a 52-week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,546,871,000 after buying an additional 1,700,141 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Bank of America by 1.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 895,884 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,215,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,794,164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,003 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $886,499,000 after purchasing an additional 601,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 59,853 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.