Brokerages Set Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Price Target at $42.69

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.69.

BAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $41.76 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.54 and its 200 day moving average is $39.78. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $26.59 and a 12 month high of $44.44. The company has a market capitalization of $320.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 835,908,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,088,345,979.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,078,718 shares of company stock worth $4,548,920,425. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 13,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the period. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 7.4% in the third quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC now owns 7,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in Bank of America by 6.0% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 455,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,062,000 after acquiring an additional 25,741 shares during the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its position in Bank of America by 6.2% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 7,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. Finally, Rather & Kittrell Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. now owns 26,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.