Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Up 0.5% – What’s Next?

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price traded up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $46.15 and last traded at $46.10. 5,883,063 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 38,579,504 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BAC. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective 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 assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.69.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $352.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.22. 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 issued its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total value of $199,638,463.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 928,460,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,813,476,231.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total value of $199,638,463.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 928,460,939 shares in the company, valued at $36,813,476,231.35. This represents a 0.00 % 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 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 0.6% in 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 buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA lifted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted 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 worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 15.1% in the second quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Company Profile

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.