Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Up 2.6% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shot up 2.6% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $46.38 and last traded at $46.31. 10,087,296 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 38,586,797 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.69.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $352.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.11 and a 200-day moving average of $40.18. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total transaction of $199,638,463.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 928,460,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,813,476,231.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total transaction of $199,638,463.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 928,460,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,813,476,231.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Summit Global Investments lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 237.6% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,035,000 after buying an additional 36,089 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 125.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,421,000 after purchasing an additional 33,983 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,734,000 after purchasing an additional 20,916 shares in the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter worth approximately $771,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 37.7% in the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after buying an additional 14,901 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.