Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Up 0.4%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $39.99 and last traded at $39.81. 7,301,561 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 39,016,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.67.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BAC. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.07.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.5 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.14. The stock has a market cap of $311.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total transaction of $437,573,568.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 910,731,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,310,871,244.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 84,497,793 shares of company stock valued at $3,513,542,556 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 83,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,329,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $785,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 9.7% during the second quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 30,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.