Oppenheimer Raises Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Price Target to $49.00

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target upped by Oppenheimer from $48.00 to $49.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an outperform rating and set a $48.00 price target (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $42.27.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $40.11 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.15. The stock has a market cap of $313.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,650,481 shares of company stock worth $6,050,547,676. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $1,090,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 406,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,671,000 after acquiring an additional 8,158 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,031,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,189,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,353,216,000 after purchasing an additional 4,338,679 shares during the period. Finally, Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.