Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Price Target Raised to $48.00

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $47.00 to $48.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on BAC. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. StockNews.com cut Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Cfra reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.69.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $42.33 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $331.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.41.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,349,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.41, for a total value of $269,261,980.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 992,612,058 shares in the company, valued at $42,096,677,379.78. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,349,021 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.41, for a total value of $269,261,980.61. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 992,612,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,096,677,379.78. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 144,633,120 shares of company stock worth $5,862,871,640. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 839.0% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. 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.