Morgan Stanley Trims Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Target Price to $47.00

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price objective cut by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $49.00 to $47.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.81% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Cfra reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.12.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of BAC opened at $39.23 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $306.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 140,942,405 shares of company stock worth $5,785,202,516 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.