Morgan Stanley Cuts Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Price Target to $47.00

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $49.00 to $47.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

BAC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $42.27.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.0 %

Bank of America 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock 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 buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,650,481 shares of company stock worth $6,050,547,676 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $2,175,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $3,601,000. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth about $1,322,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 27.1% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,734,000 after acquiring an additional 20,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foster Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 8,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.