Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.27.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Bank of America from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price 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, Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $39.96 on Thursday. Bank of America has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44. 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 stock has a market cap of $312.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.16.

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 business had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. 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. In related news, 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 transaction of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 156,918,857 shares of company stock worth $6,421,694,213 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after buying an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,502,720,000 after acquiring an additional 9,879,524 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Bank of America by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,288,347,000 after acquiring an additional 895,884 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Bank of America by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,530,241,000 after purchasing an additional 165,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 37,654,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,267,820,000 after purchasing an additional 5,488,790 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.