Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-three ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.69.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Phillip Securities upgraded 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 research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $41.76 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $320.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America has a 1 year low of $26.59 and a 1 year high of $44.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.78.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,078,718 shares of company stock worth $4,548,920,425 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after acquiring an additional 36,124,363 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,288,347,000 after buying an additional 895,884 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Bank of America by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,530,241,000 after buying an additional 165,070 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 21,465,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $813,983,000 after buying an additional 954,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $646,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,109,197 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.