Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading 0.3% Higher

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shot up 0.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $39.09 and last traded at $38.90. 4,409,279 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 39,212,270 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated 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, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $299.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.14 and a 200 day moving average of $38.70.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock valued at $4,719,796,383. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Brio Consultants LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $227,000. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 17,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. Rollins Financial grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 441,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,879,000 after purchasing an additional 48,998 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 3,585 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 34,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,172,000 after buying an additional 3,681 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.