Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Price Target Cut to $47.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price objective cut by Morgan Stanley from $49.00 to $47.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

BAC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an outperform rating and set a $48.00 target price (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $42.27.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $39.23 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $306.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a PEG ratio of 1.37 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.09. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 147,650,481 shares of company stock valued at $6,050,547,676. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 839.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 70.71% of the stock is 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.