Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Down 0.5% – Time to Sell?

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares traded down 0.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $45.96 and last traded at $46.47. 5,110,635 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 38,544,160 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.26.

Bank of America Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $355.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total transaction of $268,752,482.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 921,706,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,674,708,279.93. This represents a 0.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in Bank of America by 31,021.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,049,000 after purchasing an additional 10,175,100 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,948,000 after acquiring an additional 8,447,091 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth approximately $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Bank of America by 1,432.1% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,627,000 after buying an additional 5,749,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 193.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,898,000 after buying an additional 5,015,378 shares during the last quarter. 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.