Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Up 1.7%

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) traded up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $37.29 and last traded at $37.26. 9,807,443 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 39,485,000 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Cfra reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.07.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.57. The firm has a market cap of $286.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

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

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,993,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total transaction of $284,146,717.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 948,077,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,520,401,217.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 56,538,765 shares of company stock valued at $2,403,399,367 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 8,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 234.5% in the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 27,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 19,179 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $105,000. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 55,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,861,000 after acquiring an additional 5,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,175,000. 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.