Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its target price lifted by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $56.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 19.79% from the stock’s current price.

BAC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays upped their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective 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 upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.9 %

BAC stock opened at $46.75 on Friday. Bank of America has a twelve month low of $29.22 and a twelve month high of $46.84. The company has a market cap of $358.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total value of $268,752,482.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 921,706,667 shares in the company, valued at $36,674,708,279.93. This represents a 0.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 107,883,988 shares of company stock worth $4,344,741,752 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Summit Global Investments increased its stake in Bank of America by 237.6% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 36,089 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 33,983 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 20,916 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 37.7% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,163,000 after acquiring an additional 14,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at about $9,670,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.