Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading 6.9% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) rose 6.9% during trading on Wednesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $56.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as high as $45.45 and last traded at $44.77. Approximately 36,316,191 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 38,332,059 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.88.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.97.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 2,305,415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total value of $90,533,647.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 812,041,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,888,881,917.97. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value 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 $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 6.9 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $343.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.