Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Up 1.3%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price rose 1.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $39.68 and last traded at $39.62. Approximately 5,705,705 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 39,101,648 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $309.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.11 and a 200-day moving average of $38.77. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding 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 an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by 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.