Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) PT Raised to $48.00 at Morgan Stanley

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $47.00 to $48.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

BAC has been the subject of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.62.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.6 %

BAC stock opened at $42.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.35. Bank of America has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44. The firm has a market cap of $334.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 transaction of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. This represents 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 148,230,389 shares of company stock valued at $6,023,064,684 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 402.2% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 839.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter worth about $33,000. 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.