Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Up 0.8% – Here’s Why

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s share price rose 0.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $46.23 and last traded at $46.22. Approximately 9,160,896 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 38,602,023 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BAC. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.69.

Bank of America Price Performance

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’s 50 day moving average is $41.22 and its 200 day moving average is $40.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $352.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32.

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. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 107,883,988 shares of company stock valued at $4,344,741,752 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 0.6% during the third quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 37,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.6% in the third quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 14,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Bank of America by 1.2% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 15.1% during the second quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. 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.