Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Receives $45.92 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $45.92.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.8 %

BAC stock opened at $44.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $338.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.78 and a 200-day moving average of $41.66. 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 has a one year low of $31.27 and a one year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,941,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $197,359,635.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 820,719,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,779,519,695.74. This represents a 0.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 39,835,159 shares of company stock valued at $1,609,712,663 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Bank of America by 525.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other 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.